Welcome!

Hey there, internet!

Chances are you're reading this because you saw my Facebook post about wanting to write a blog or a book, or maybe you wandered here after my AMA on Reddit (which I have yet to do, but will be doing within the next few days). Either way, you're here now and I for one am glad. 

To start off simply: my name is Kyle, and as of August 2015 I'm 17 years old and a senior in high school. I enjoy video games, I'm good at math (and intend to teach it as a career), and I've been openly transgender for almost exactly two years. Obviously one of those things isn't heard very commonly, and I'll give you a hint: it isn't the math one.

So why bother writing this blog? Simple: nearly a year and a half of my two years since coming out as trans were spent absolutely miserable. I was misunderstood, invalidated, and alone. For many years of my life the only images I saw of anyone pushing the lines of gender expression were drag queens, crazy characters on TV shows like CSI, or a punch line to some joke about a man in a dress. I was miserable and hated that I couldn't be comfortable as a girl like everyone seemed to want me to be. 

Life sucked, that's the only way I can explain it, but it got and is still getting better, and I think mine is a story that needs to be told. I don't want anyone else to have to feel how I did, and if writing this helps even one person, I'll consider it a job well done. As a female-to-male transgender teen, I had no reassurance that my experience was valid. Even doing research on the subject, the pattern I saw in the stories of the standard trans experience were all the same; a mother explaining how she always knew her son was really her daughter and how supportive she was all the way. If it wasn't that story, it was something along the lines of "Trans Woman Found Murdered" or "Trans Teen Commits Suicide". But I firmly believe that everyone is unique and every story is varied, and I want to share mine in hopes that someone who connects to this and me on even some level may have reassurance that they aren't a freak and are valid in their understanding of themselves.

That said, while I want to tell my story, I want to educate as well. Chances are if you're reading this, you aren't trans. Maybe you're an ally, maybe you have a loved one who just came out, or maybe you're reading up on the subject for some reason or another and somehow ended up here. If you aren't trans, I want this to be a place where you can ask an actual trans person about being trans (please note, however, that I am not Every Trans Person, and I obviously cannot speak for everyone –– as I said, everyone has a unique story. I will do my best to be inclusive of as many people as possible and provide the most detailed and accurate answers to your questions I can). 

Whether or not you're some form of genderqueer, I am more than willing to do anything I can to help you and others understand, and give advice if requested. Don't worry about offending me! I want this to be a safe place for everyone to learn and avoid promoting fearful ignorance of an issue that's becoming more and more relevant in today's world. 

TL;DR: Hi, I'm Kyle, I'm trans, and this blog is where I'm going to talk and answer questions about gender identity, myself, and anything else you can think to ask! Thanks for reading!