Storytelling Reclamation

Public speaking is an experience of storytelling reclamation that sends ripples of hope out to those who are unseen and unacknowledged.

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I used to exist in a disconnected mind and body. I didn't know who I was, and society's erasure and shaming of “different” led to internalised hate of core identities.

I'm almost five years on HRT, three years since top surgery and two years since my ASD diagnosis. It's been four years since legally changing my name and gender marker. I know my queer identity, even without stringent labels that can feel suffocating. I've chosen being rejected over performing an act to appease audiences. I've chosen to be called “weird” for unmasking rather than silence my intuition. I've chosen to create my own accessible spaces, accepting that I'm not welcome into everyone's circle.

As difficult as it's been, being queer and trans has presented life-changing opportunities. These include: performing in queer theatre, participating in a public speaking development program, writing and recording an original trans song, and co-facilitating songwriting workshops in Toronto. Each experience is prison break from the suppressive CIS-tem. I have reclaimed joy that belongs to me.

If you feel trapped in the story dicated for you, incinerate it. I've written my own book with the flames that burned me, and I hope you can do the same.