vent confession. tw assault, transphobia, homophobia- no graphic descriptions
i'm a trans guy. i've apparently been visibly queer since i was like 5 and it was a problem my entire k-12 even tho i didn't even come out until college. one of the worst things was in middle school, how some of the girls would treat me in the locker room. the older girls thought it was okay to push me around, and i had to remind them all the time that i was small but fierce; if they hit me, i would find the strength to hit them back twice as hard. i fought every time they tried to grope me, too, acting like it was some kind of friendly gesture even after i told them repeatedly i didn't want to be touched that way, in those places. the girls my age copied them and added it to their existing bullying repertoire. they would humiliate me and try to hurt me when their words distracted me. at the time, i thought i handled it well because i was never "truly" sexually assaulted, but those times stuck with me. i remember the mean things they said to me still, the half second of fear when my husband approaches me from behind while i'm undressing to this day.. but nobody wants to believe a bunch of little cis girls would do that to someone, so i can't talk about it to anyone. i can't bear to have my pain minimized and laughed at again...
I normally respond to these in the tags, but this one resonated with me in a way I can't truly describe. Nonny, there are people out there who CAN and WILL believe you, people who, if they DON'T, deserve to be cut out of your file, no matter who they are. You really have gone through something awful, but what happened to you is not uncommon, and there is no doubt about it that there are people who will believe you. This isn't an urge to go out and tell everybody, because at the end of the day, it's your choice who to tell, but I do promise you there are people who've been through the same and if people believe them, they'll believe you too. Stay safe, and I hope you'll be okay.