{"quotes":[{"text":"THIS IS WHAT A MAN LOOKS LIKE. HE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE AESTHETICALLY PLEASING; HE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE MUSCULAR; HE DESERVES NOT TO BE PHOTOSHOPPED. HE IS HUMAN, AND HE HAS BLEMISHES. HERE HE STANDS, VISIBLE. HE SEES YOU ALL, COUNTLESS INVISIBLE OTHERS LIKE HIM. THIS BODY IS ACCEPTABLE — PUBESCENT, AWKWARD, MARRED. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE INVISIBLE. WE ARE ALL GOOD ENOUGH. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH OUR BODIES.","author":"Agnostic Zetetic","tags":["awkward","blemish","body","body-shame","equality","feminism","happy","human","image","invisible","lgbt","male","male-beauty","man","masculinity","muscle","photoshop","pride","puberty","reality","shame","trans","transgender","visibility"],"id":26028,"author_id":"Agnostic+Zetetic"},{"text":"I didn't just wake up one morning and think, 'I'm a boy!' It sort of crept up on me and tapped me on the shoulder a few times before I started to pay attention I began to think that the word 'girl' didn't quite fit me. It was like a shoe that was too small -- it pinched me.","author":"Cat Clarke","tags":["middle-school","self-discovery","trans","trans-issues"],"id":64977,"author_id":"Cat+Clarke"},{"text":"No one has the right to demand that your body be something other than what it is.","author":"Agnostic Zetetic","tags":["body","body-modification","body-shame","cosmetics","expectations","judgment","opinion","relationships","shame","societal-expectations","surgery","trans","transgender"],"id":110343,"author_id":"Agnostic+Zetetic"},{"text":"Being transgender guarantees you will upset someone. People get upset with transgender people who choose to inhabit a third gender space rather than “pick a side.” Some get upset at transgender people who do not eschew their birth histories. Others get up in arms with those who opted out of surgical options, instead living with their original equipment. Ire is raised at those who transition, then transition again when they decide that their initial change was not the right answer for them. Heck, some get their dander up simply because this or that transgender person simply is not “trying hard enough” to be a particular gender, whatever that means. Some are irked that the Logo program RuPaul’s Drag Race shows a version of transgender life different from their own. Meanwhile, all around are those who have decided they aren’t comfortable with the lot of us, because we dared to change from one gender expression or identity to some other.","author":"Kate Bornstein","tags":["gender","trans","transgender"],"id":112847,"author_id":"Kate+Bornstein"},{"text":"The 7 Steps to Transformation:1. Dream it.2. Envision it.3. Think it.4. Grow it.5. Become it.6. Live it.7. OWN it.","author":"Germany Kent","tags":["become-better","become-better-than-your-old-self","become-fearless","becoming","becoming-better","dream","dream-big","dreaming","dreams","dreams-and-wishes","dreams-do-come-true","dreams-inspirational","dreams","envision","envisioning-the-future","envisioning-the-prize-ahead","envisions","germany-kent","germany-kent","germany-kent","growth","growth-mindset","growth-process","growth","hope-guru","inspiration","inspirational","inspirational-attitude","inspirational-life","inspirational-living","inspirational","inspirational","inspirational","inspirational-about-life","inspiring","life-lessons","life-lessons-life","life-lessons","life-lessons-value-of-life-truth","life-lessons-wisdom","live-an-extraordinary-life","live-and-learn","live-and-let-live","live-in-the-here-and-now","live-life","live-life-so-well","live-your-best-life","motivate","motivation","motivation","motivational","motivational-inspirational","motivational","motivational-of-the-day","motivational","motivational-for-women","own-life","ownership","owning-it","perspective","perspective-on-life","perspective","perspectives-on-life","perspectives","real-talk","secrets-of-success","secrets-to-success","the-hope-guru","think-rich","thinking-for-change","thinking-outside-of-the-box","thinking-positive","thinking-process","thinking","thinking-with-a-great-mind","trans","transformation","transformational-speakers","transforming"],"id":135724,"author_id":"Germany+Kent"},{"text":"Gender isn’t simply some faucet that we can turn on and off in order to appease other people, whether they be heterosexist bigots or queerer-than-thou hipsters. How about this: Let’s stop pretending that we have all the answers, because when it comes to gender, none of us is fucking omniscient. Instead of trying to fictionalize gender, let’s talk about the moments in life when gender feels all too real. Because gender doesn’t feel like drag when you’re a young trans child begging your parents not to cut your hair or not to force you to wear that dress. And gender doesn’t feel like a performance when, for the first time in your life, you feel safe and empowered enough to express yourself in ways that resonate with you, rather than remaining closeted for the benefit of others. And gender doesn’t feel like a construct when you finally find that special person whose body, personality, identity, and energy feels like a perfect fit with yours. Let’s stop trying to deconstruct gender into nonexistence, and instead start celebrating it as inexplicable, varied, profound, and intricate.","author":"Julia Serano","tags":["gender","trans"],"id":140129,"author_id":"Julia+Serano"},{"text":"Living with stress and secrets is both stressful and secretive.","author":"James Dawson","tags":["bi","gay","glbt","lesbian","lgbt","life","queer","stress","trans","truth"],"id":147461,"author_id":"James+Dawson"},{"text":"...I really did 'choose' to be Jim every single day, but that once I put my sword down I haven't chosen Jenny at all; I simply wake up and here I am.","author":"Jennifer Finney Boylan","tags":["lgbt","memoir","trans"],"id":153920,"author_id":"Jennifer+Finney+Boylan"},{"text":"We’re not broken. We’re not in the wrong bodies. We’re not inadequate. We’re not lesser. We’re not unwanted. We’re not fraudulent. We’re not undesirable. That’s all just a set of lies we tell to soothe the experience of the prisons we put ourselves in.","author":"Agnostic Zetetic","tags":["acceptance","authenticity","beauty","body","body-shame","closet","closeted","desire","honesty","lies","mind","prison","shame","trans","transgender-lgbt","truth","undesirable"],"id":154944,"author_id":"Agnostic+Zetetic"},{"text":"For every woman who burned a bra, there's a man burning to wear one.","author":"Miss Vera","tags":["binary","bras","crossdress","crossgender","feminism","gender","gender-binary","miss-vera","nonbinary","trans","transgender","transvestite","veronica-vera"],"id":191093,"author_id":"Miss+Vera"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":30,"pages":3,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}