I’ve been building a collection of inspiring and educational resources related to being transgender and transitioning on my journey around the interwebs. If you would like to read or watch the things that have caught my eyes and ears, you can do so via my Resources page. I try to regularly add new items to it.
One of my favourites so far is Lana Wachowski’s acceptance speech for the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award in 2012. Lana was born as Larry and went on to direct, screenwrite for and/or produce many successful films, including The Matrix trilogy, with her then brother Andy. Lana commenced her transition privately in the early 2000s and her brother, who had also been hiding his transgender nature, publicly announced in 2016 that his transition to Lilly had commenced.
It is really hard to explain how it feels and what it means to be transgender, especially later on in life, when the relevant thoughts and feelings and their connections to your experiences, have been deep frozen in ice by your well-meaning “just doing it to protect you” sub-conscious. I often search for words that would enlighten and clarify, and because my ice is melting, they are coming easier than before, but there are still many times when I just can’t find any remotely relevant words. Lana’s words come easily. They enlighten and clarify. I’m going to let them tell some of my stories by proxy.