Hello! My name is Kay, and I’m a queer, non-binary bookseller (they/she). I write fiction under the pseudonym…. (Update: For now, I’m just writing as Kay.)
I’ve waffled on how, or whether, I should come out. 2022 has been an awful year to be standing under the transgender umbrella, and part of me wondered if it could possibly be worth it to be out publicly. What if, amid queer book bans and a silent publishing industry, I torpedo my writing career before I even have one? What if all I’m doing is opening myself up to harassment from bigots and trolls? Am I even “trans enough” for this — especially when I still screw up being an “ally” sometimes? If people in “real life” know, isn’t that good enough?
After a while, though, these questions start to feel like excuses. I have so many wonderful, brave, openly trans and/or non-binary people in my life. Standing with them as a “ally” but not coming out myself because I’m frightened of the repercussions feels like a lie of omission. I don’t think anyone has to come out, but I think I do.
So here I am. I’m still figuring out which specific words best describe my experience with gender, but whatever they are, I’m coming in out of the rain and finding a spot under this wonderful rainbow-striped umbrella.
Image Credit: Wikimedia
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