I Know My Biology

One of the strangest things about being transgender is how often people feel the need to remind me about my biology.

"But your biology is female."

Yeah. I know.

Trust me when I say there is not a single trans person walking this earth who has somehow forgotten the body they were born in. We know. We live with that reality every single day. We hear it in conversations, see it in mirrors, feel it during doctor visits, and carry it in ways most people will never fully understand.

I know what my body was born as.

I know there are things hormones and surgeries cannot change. I know biology exists. I know there are limits to medicine. None of this is new information to me.

And honestly, I think that is the part people miss.

Trans people are not transitioning because we believe we can magically erase biology. We are transitioning because we are trying to feel more at peace inside ourselves.

That is it.

I am not trying to trick anyone. I am not confused. I am not disconnected from reality. I am not mentally ill.

I am trying to survive my life in a way that feels honest.

People talk to trans people like we have never thought deeply about any of this. Like one "gotcha" comment about chromosomes is suddenly going to make us go, "Oh wow, you fixed me."

No. What it usually does is remind us of something we already carry heavily.

There are so many moments in life where I am already aware of my biology without someone needing to point it out. Sometimes it is hearing my own voice. Sometimes it is old photos. Sometimes it is realizing I will never have the childhood I wish I could have had. Sometimes it is grief. Quiet grief that sits in places I do not always talk about.

So when people say things like that, it rarely feels educational. It feels like someone looking at a deeply personal wound and pressing on it just to make sure I still feel it.

I do.

Transition is not about becoming perfect. It is not about denying reality. It is not about trying to become a cisgender man.

For me, transition has been about finally being able to breathe.

It has been hearing my name and feeling connected to it. Looking in the mirror and seeing less distance between my body and my mind. Smiling in photos instead of avoiding cameras. Feeling more present in my own life.

And honestly, do I really need to justify wanting that?

People change things about themselves every day because it helps them feel more comfortable, confident, or alive. Haircuts. Tattoos. Piercings. Makeup. Fitness. Therapy. Style. Plastic surgery. Self-help books. We are all shaping ourselves into people that feel more like us.

This is no different.

The steps I take in my transition are for me.

Not for politics. Not for attention. Not because I think biology disappeared overnight or can be altered.

I do these things because they help me feel at home in myself after years of feeling disconnected from who I was forced to be.

And I think every person on this planet deserves the right to build a life that feels more livable for them.

Including me.