The Epiphany

The epiphany about owning my "Transgender" label came to me on one of the first evenings that I spent among like minded and allied people in a discussion group:

When I asked the question "Am I trans enough to be in this group?" A particularly well spoken young man explained to me, that "If; when you think about the day that you were born - and the doctor announced your gender by saying 'It's a Boy!' (or 'It's a girl!' as the case may be) - if you have ever questioned whether that announcement was accurate in any way, Then you are transgender"

That simple definition was so liberating to me because up to that point I seriously thought I was just being deviant (a label society trained me to assume) and was 'only a cross dresser' - because I held no recollections of "always being a girl". Up to that point I had believed that as soon as one became self aware of gender identity, all trans people have known and believed that their gender wasn't correctly defined. Hence I didn't feel qualified to be part of the demographic; and throughout the years, this inaccurate self-judgment limited my exploration and acceptance of all that I am or could be.