I'm From Driftwood

by Jordan FD

My name is Jordan, I’m from New Hampshire, and I’m transgender. When I was growing up I knew I wasn’t like the rest of the girls. I always wanted to play with boys, and do boy-like things. I always dressed like a boy like I do now. We always figured I was just a tomboy, because we never knew of the term transgender. I used to play house with my friend Josh and I would always be a boy. He was always the father, I was always the brother. If I couldn’t play a boy I wouldn’t play at all. As I grew older I tried to make myself more feminine for fear I would be picked on, but that just wasn’t me so I went back to making myself more masculine. If people picked on me, I would ignore them the best I could.

I was browsing around on YouTube and I came to something about transgender people. I watched it in awe and at the end I realized, wow, that’s exactly what I feel, what I am. I told my mom how I felt and said I wanted a boy’s haircut. She said sure and we went to go get me a surfer’s haircut. As the days went on, I talked to her more and more about how I felt, and I finally broke the news to her: I was transgender. She wasn’t shocked but she didn’t really believe me either. She accepts me but she doesn’t understand me fully. I tell myself that you can’t really fully understand a transgender person unless you are a transgender person. I told my dad I was transgender, and he didn’t have the reaction I hoped for. I was hoping he would tell his girlfriend, but when he picked me up that night, he told me he wanted to keep it a secret and that it was too personal to share. I got really upset and didn’t know what to say. I really couldn’t believe he was trying to hide who I really am. I thought he would be totally cool with it because my dad’s girlfriend’s son is gay, and my sister is bisexual so he has experience with it. I am glad my mom accepted me. The other stories on here have inspired me so much. I hope my story has inspired you too.