On July 17th, 2020, at 10:10 PM–Eastern Standard Time, mind you–a transgender friend of mine sent me a link to a webcomic, saying that it felt very relatable to her. So, since I wanted to be a good friend and try to understand her situation a little bit better, I read it… and immediately plunged into an eleven-day-long panic attack. This comic said things to me openly that I’d never said to anyone, ever. I was rung like a struck bell. And, at the end of those eleven days, when I said to my therapist, “Melissa, I don’t think I’m cis,” her response was a simple, gentle, “I don’t think you are either.”
Thank you
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Thank you for posting this
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This is an excellent post, wonderfully illustrating the topic. I’m a cis-gay man who’s ex had her egg hatching when I was with her, so I’ve seen these realisations close up. I’ve also had several self realisations that have gone through these same processes. The first when I initially realised I was gay at 12 years old, starting bodybuilding at almost 40 years old and coping with the body dismorphia that comes with it, and most recently, through tictok videos, realising I have ADHD.
As the writer says in her conclusions, these comics and experiences can absolutely relate to cis people as well as trans, as at one point or another, we will go through a dramatic realisation about ourselves we didn’t expect. Often this is because we finally have the language we needed to have this realisation, and this is why creating diverse spaces is good for everyone.
