Friday Highlights at Queerly Trans (June 17, 2022)

We weathered flurry of feelings and fantastic fiction this week!

We have lots of great new reads for you!

But first, if you’re a Queerly Trans writer, don’t forget to share your favorite fiction writing with us! If not, check out our editor’s picks!

“This month is all about fiction. We want any fiction with a dash of queerness! Note: One post per writer. Submissions close June 30th at midnight in YOUR timezone.”

Do you want to become a Queerly Trans writer? Check out our guidelines to see if our publication is a good fit for you:

Our newest writer, Antonia Ceballos, started off strong with a haunting metaphor that I know will resonate with so many of our trans readers! Check out “The Trans Ghost Who Lives at the Back of My Closet” for a worthy read. Welcome, Antonia!

“While painting one afternoon, as the shadows drew longer outside, the topic of ghosts came up. Smoking a Dunhill, Nancy told me about a friend she’d had when she lived in England, a trans woman. I remember the story keenly because I wanted to be a girl for as long as I could remember, but was deeply ashamed and repressed about it.”

If there’s one thing nearly every trans person I’ve known has had in common so far, it’s that we all have a rather intense relationship to hair, for better or worse. KP_the_writer taps into some very relatable emotions in “Childhood (Hair) Trauma”.

“Is it any real wonder that I didn’t even know I was in the damn closet? A gay trans-masc enby stuck playing straight cis-girl because they didn’t know there was a choice. Because no one told them there was a choice — the choice to be themself. And worse, everyone told them how they needed to act, behave, present, speak, interact, think. They were taught their value was in the opinions of others rather than in their own desires and needs.”

Kitty Whitemore has something very special to celebrate in “81 Ways to Say Thank You, This Trans Girl Is So Appreciative!” She’s excited to share an amazing milestone in her writing about trans issues. Congratulations, Kitty!

“I wrote an article about how wonderful cis allies can be, and it was well-received. I am glad that these wonderful people drove my trans story to over 2000 reads. That’s a huge deal for me.”

Stephenie Magister’s career drama pits friendship against romantic love in three parts, with a trans twist, in the short story trilogy “Dance Lessons”.

“The cold wooden floor licked through his socks as he went from the foyer to the living room. Susan had set up the foldout table and placed one small candle in the center of it. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. His feet suddenly felt warm.”

“Jim gestured for Donald to sit next to him. The invitation put a big grin on Donald’s face. Jim didn’t know where to start, so he said what he figured Donald was waiting to hear. ‘I’m sorry about yesterday.’”

“The elevator bell rang and the doors opened. Jim lowered his eyes to the floor. ‘I just can’t. It’s a generous offer. But I can’t.’ He stepped into the elevator.”

Speaking of love, I wrote this little love poem for my wife and they encouraged me to share it with you. 💖

“You were lying in my arms, accepting neck nuzzles on the edge of consciousness as the morning light caught your black hair, decorating your mischievous brain with a shiny halo.”

Meanwhile, our house drama continues with some more weather issues! First we had a Styrofoam storm. Then, our air conditioning broke, just in time for a massive heat wave. This led me to devise a theory about who’s really been controlling the weather around us in “This Weather is Transphobic as Fuck”.

“Yet a matter of days later, the air conditioning broke in his house, just in time for the temperature to rise to the degree of excessive damnation. We’re talking completely unnecessary levels of hell fire and brimstone over here. Why did this happen? The Proud Boy who controlled the weather knew that this trans man was willing to go back into the closet just to fix his air conditioning unit in a timely manner.”

Incidentally, shortly after I published this piece, a tornado appeared in a sudden storm that came out of nowhere and knocked a tree over just across the street from where my wife and I were sipping our coffee. Is this a coincidence or more evidence for my theory? See the picture below of the tree that fell and destroyed a fence. It was taken from inside our car after the storm let up a bit, so it’s a bit blurry, but you get the idea.

This week’s nominations for the Queerly Trans Reader’s Showcase

For my own Reading Showcase nomination, I wanted to nominate a beautiful writing full of pain and hope from Jin Zeng (he/him) called “Rescuing myself from the rubble.” It’s an absolute must read that deserves to be showered with claps!

“I wanted to tell my story because it’s a different kind of gender story. One that isn’t white, ablebodied, or neurotypical. I think trans folks who have lived at many intersections of marginalization — before and after transition — don’t share our stories as often or as loudly. Nor are our voices represented in mainstream perceptions of what it means to be trans, what transition looks like, or how gender dysphoria/euphoria are defined.”

Sieran Lane recommended this writing by Emily Roawr, called “What Do You Do When Your Spouse Wants to Transition?” It’s about the journey that a lesbian spouse went through after learning that her partner wanted to start on Testosterone and have top surgery. It is an interesting reflection on the struggles and growth a cis partner may encounter.

“A person who entered a marriage squarely or not so squarely in one of our binary genders — expresses a desire or a need to change gender. As you could maybe imagine, this leads to a cascade of other things that come up. Including but not limited to: Large, structural pieces and foundational shit about yourself, your sexuality, your identity, and how you relate to your partner who is the same partner — but with altered gender expression.”

Kitty Whitemore recommended this piece by S.R., called “I Use Public Bathrooms with Trans Women,” from a cis woman who had a change of heart about trans people over time. I want to include a CW here for gendered genital language that may cause dysphoria for some trans readers, but I think it offers an interesting story of growth through interaction with our communities.

“I was a member of a rock-climbing gym for about a year that had a woman’s locker room, showers, and a sauna. In general, I didn’t linger in the locker rooms much, but one time I did decide to use the sauna in there. It was a woman’s only sauna and I bravely went in wearing a towel. Inside was a trans woman, sitting alone, wearing a towel, just like me. She looked very nervous and scared when I came in.”

Do you have a reading that you’d like to nominate for next week’s Queerly Trans Reader’s Showcase? Be sure to share it in the comments section! We’re always looking for interesting perspectives on queer trans issues to promote from around Medium.

That’s it for this week!

Don’t forget to follow and subscribe to Queerly Trans, so that you never miss any of our wonderful stories, poems, and artwork!

Editors: KP_the_writer, Logan Silkwood

Writers: Ayven Alexander, Kai Arden, locke besse, Antonia Ceballos, Jymi Cliche, Justice Faye Dazzle, Nova Grace, Jaz Joyner, Emma Holiday, Alistair J. Kraft, Sieran Lane, Mx. Marie Chase Lewis (Fae/They), Stephenie Magister, Michelle Paquette, Amber Poe, Jenny Starr✨, Kai Stowers, 💜 Victoria Quinn 💚, Kristy Westaway, Anabelle Weissinger, Kitty Whitemore