Offer

Pride on the Page Day #17

Each of the mini-essays I’m publishing for the month of June are part of a creative challenge to share joy during Pride. You can find out more in the link below. You can even participate, if you’d like!

Wild Lion*esses Pride from Jay

✍️#PrideOnThePage (a fun, free, creative community challenge) - runs June 1-30

17. Offer

Meeting cool trans people became like a gateway drug—I just wanted more. I’d been missing out on them for decades, for a lifetime, and suddenly my eyes were open to these gorgeous, gender-defiant beings who didn’t give a flying fuck whether the world condoned or allowed or wanted or permitted them to exist.

They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. They said, “Be. That’s enough. Be.” And when I was awkward they did little friendly awkward things to minimize my embarrassment. When I was a dork they dorked with me, like it was totally cool to dork that hard. When I cried they sat down and offered me a beer to cry in. When I laughed they said it sounded like a song. When I stopped holding my shoulders funny and walked, they dared me to run with them. And eventually, after a long time of feeling like I couldn’t possibly belong to this beautiful crew of rebels and creative punks and outlaws who might someday be my inlaws (you see that dork move right there?), I looked over my shoulder and realized that I’d been them all along. It didn’t matter that I was awkward or a dork or crying or laughing.

And I offered it up to the next kid who wandered near.

Hey kid, here’s a beer to cry in. Let’s run.

Your trans friend,

Robin