Transgender Woman Learns To Embrace Uniqueness

by Michelle Enfield
Listen to the Story
June 23, 2011

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/23/137369283/transgender-woman-learns-to-embrace-uniqueness

As part of LGBT Pride month, Tell Me More is exploring the sometimes difficult process of informing others about one's sexual orientation. Guests and friends of the program who are either lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender are sharing their stories of coming out to those closest to them: family, friends, and even co-workers.

Today: Michelle Antoinette Enfield, a transgender woman who is an HIV Prevention Training Specialist in Los Angeles, California.

I was born on the Navajo Reservation in Fort Defiance, Arizona. I am a member of the Navajo Nation. One of my earliest memories of feeling different was when I would sit on the bathroom sink and watch my mother get ready for the day as she brushed her beautiful bouffant hairdo. I would think how wonderful it would be to have her style in the future. I remember that I would secure a towel on top of my head with a rubber band so I could pretend it was my long hair.