Mao Reynolds, a transsexual man, shares their experiences in Crossword.
It’s difficult to be glad of anything I can’t power.
I attended a private Catholic college from the sixth to the twelveth quality and was required to take a religion course each year. The majority of those lessons were spent watching cringey films with thinly-veiled parables for Jesus while memorizing the number of books from each Testament. But some lessons were more powerful.
The most deadly sin, according to one of my teachers, was pleasure, particularly the kind of satisfaction preached by the LGBTQ+ neighborhood. Many Catholics and Americans as a whole also approve of who I am despite Pope Francis ‘ fighting for LGBTQ+ approval since he arrived at the Vatican.
According to a 2022 Pew Research Center ballot, 62 percent of American Catholics believe that sex is determined by the sex that is assigned at birth. According to the same poll, 43 % of Americans believe that transgender acceptance is occurring to quickly and that popularity has overstepped.
I’m a trans person. I’ve felt disconnected from womanhood since I was small, often choosing shoes over elegant shoes, jeans over garments, the boy’s Happy Meal over the girl’s. Even when I told my mother I did n’t want to start wearing training bras, I can remember.
“ I want to be like Peter Pan, ” I told her. “ I don’t need to grow up. ”
If it meant having to be someone I was n’t, I did n’t want to grow up. With one month until I graduate from college, I’m also having trouble accepting who I am, but I’m working on it.
Last month, on the first day of Pride Month, I actually came out. I’ve been hanging out with my siblings and close friends for a while, but for the first time in a while I actually made a statement about who I am. My hand shook as I shared the news on Instagram, and I can still recall that moment.
Despite how great of a move that was, I still find it difficult to talk about myself in such a way. When people refer to me as a “her,” I stifle it when I make up my name. People are more likely to believe that I am a gay than a man. And confident, I like to wear makeup, but a bit of makeup should n’t identify your identity.
I used to worry much more about “passing ” as a man. I hid my stomach with two sporting underwear on top of each other while filling in my brow, lowering my voice, and removing my chin. Now, I just care about feeling secure, but I still have time where even the idea of wearing a gown makes me queasy.
Transgender Americans have had a terrible year so far, to put it another way. In 2024 Louisiana, Ohio and Wyoming joined 22 another claims that have laws limiting gender-affirming care, according to health plan business KFF. Advocacy organizations are also mourning the deaths of six different trans people this year, as well as Nex Benedict, a non-binary Maori girl who died after being beaten in their high class bath.
Perhaps worse, some information media don’t record adequately on transgender issues— or they ignore them all up. Headlines like the Daily Mail often promote transphobic language, and GLAAD issued a statement about The New York Times ‘ subpar journalistic practices in a statement from last year.
As a result, I’m concerned about how young transgender journalists will perform again our careers are established.
The Phoenix, which promotes a range of media coverage, including bring shows and the women’s studies and gender studies programme, and instructs reporters to ask for the pronouns of everyone involved in a tale, is where I have the opportunity to write.
This is n’t just about using the right pronouns, though. I also have the honor of being a member of the Trans Journalists Association, a pro-equity movement organization. It provides a style guide for transgender news coverage as well as a forum for reporters to discuss their reporting.
Despite the Catholic Church’s official positions about things like gender-affirming surgery, I have hope for the future of Catholicism. Just last month, St. Even though officiants starting the funeral and there was online backlash, I ca n’t recall anything like that occurring 30, 20, or even ten years ago.
I can recall a high school teacher who, while being a devout Catholic, publicly supported LGBTQ+ students. He always said he had a man-crush on Pope Francis. Although I never took any of his classes, I was more moved by his support as an older, more religious, and more importantly, I was influenced by his support.
This article is just a blip in the larger discussion about how transgender people are perceived in the news. However, it ’s a massive step for me, someone who’s spent so long ignoring and hiding who I am. I’m done being silent — I’m ready to say, once and for all, this is me.
Feature image by Amber Cerpa/ The Phoenix
