“Gender self-determination is vital and I can feel great about who I am when I am at home. But I live a life where I engage with other people and doing what feels good for me is a lot more challenging when I step outside the door. With pronouns specifically, it’s hard not to feel like you are dependent on others to ‘validate’ your gender, or rather, it’s hard not to feel like your gender is not valid when people use the wrong pronoun.”

“My self love is my favorite thing about myself right now. Seeing my sometimes dry, sometimes crusty-eyed face first thing in the morning and automatically thinking, “Damn, you’re beautiful” is a joy I never thought I would experience.”