I am Geneva! My feelings of self don't align with the body I inhabit. I was born male but am and always have felt female. The problem with being born male is that my parents and everyone around me in society had automatic expectations about how I should look and behave so I was effectively trapped in a male body. The remedy for my situation sounds easy: Acceptance. Acceptance of being transgender and acceptance of being in the wrong body, acceptance of my place in society. The road to acceptance is long and often torturous for transgender people. For me the journey is worth the sacrifice because I've realised I can't survive any other way. For others, it's not so simple. Having a friend, partner or family member who is transgender has flow on effects one can never predict. As a transgender person I feel guilty about the stress placed on family because they are forced to either accept or tolerate me. Sometimes I present as female or at least as female as I can while inhabiting a boy body. Other times I look much as I have for decades. Acceptance is absolutely totally f**king difficult, but essential. A small morsel of acceptance displayed by friends and family can be literally life saving for a transgender person.
