Planning To Pay For Top Surgery Taught Me To Be Good At Budgeting
I started jotting down numbers on a napkin, gesturing with my $8 beer as I explained how easy it would be, within a year, for him to pay it all off with the salary from his new job. He looked a little lost. I scoffed when he told me he didn’t know how much he spent on food in a month. At 25, I could tell him how much I spent each month on food going back almost eight years.
When he asked me how I got so good at budgeting, I told him, simply, “I’m transgender.”
Kudzu: The Vine That Ate Southern Literature
In a region defined by slow pace, the fast-growing vine found a home. Kudzu has been portrayed both as a deadly invader and a friendly entrapper.
Revisionist History
I will pick whatever story gets me what I want, what gets me the response I am looking for, the response I need. Do I need sympathy? Medical access? A job? My life becomes a negotiation of information.
I was taught the narrative I needed to have, so I procured it.
At the Protest
So she must stand her in the crowd, holding up her sign with her simple plea and making me want to cry.
Sound Over Water
Sound travels furthest over water, so he kept his hand upon my mouth. His fingers laced tightly across my lips. Hard.
Edge of the Map
I have always been fascinated by the edges of maps. Where exactly to the two ends of the earth overlap? What is just past that ocean in Narnia? Where did the elves plan on going when they left Middle Earth? My favorite comment has always been “Here there be Dragons.”
~Gaslight: Lambda Literary Foundation Emerging Writers Anthology, March 2015
Queer Narratives
What is a queer narrative?
A queer narrative is anything that derives from the norm.