I had decided that being a girl was just what I was going to have to do. I never thought that I would be able to live my truth. I never thought that life would make sense and I would see a light at the end of the tunnel of not feeling comfortable in a body that I’ve been born in. I’ve always said that I was grateful for being and experiencing womanhood, it made me appreciate the woman that much more, however it just wasn’t for me.
I’ll forever be thankful to those who came before me for simply showing me another way, something I knew deep down was possible. After 20 years, I’d decided to take a leap into my new life, my TRUE life and I haven’t turned back since. Life really starts to look up when you live out loud and just be honest with yourself. My whole existence was about making others comfortable even if that meant that I wasn’t.
Many in my community don’t understand, and I’ve always felt like that was because they didn’t and still don’t want to. I grew up in a religious family, my grandfather being a southern Baptist pastor of a church whose pews were filled with those who would compare homosexuality with perversion. I guess you could say they aren’t the biggest supporters of this truth that I’m living but that’s okay because I am.
I really love myself now, like. I’m finally blooming into this beautiful black man and every morning I wake, I’m just so grateful. Beyond grateful. Then I received a phone call from the Jim Collins Foundation informing me that I would be one of the grant recipients and that was indeed the confirmation that I needed letting me know that I was doing the right thing.
Thank you to the foundation for existing. Thank you to those that donate and THANK YOU for picking little ole me to set free. I’m forever grateful and I cannot wait to pay it forward!