Before I Had the Words: On Being a Transgender Young Adult by Skylar Kergil

Pride Month 2018 Read #6

Skylar tells his story in a way that is powerful, open, and raw but gentle and on his own terms without showing any signs he felt the need to share more than he does. This is important because one of the things he shares is the way over the years he got asked questions that were not appropriate for people to be asking and how he didn't know how to handle that and so felt terribly uncomfortable and at times said more than he really wanted to.

Many Transgender people don't have a supportive family, friends, and/or school. Skylar did, though don't mistake that as having had an easy time of it. He shares his personal internal struggle with learning about what was happening to him (leading to him understanding he was a boy), dealing with people who bullied him, and getting the help he needed from professionals in the medical space of his needs. Add this to the struggles that is typical to all teenagers and you begin to understand why the suicide rate among Transgender children and teens is so high.

Reading Skylar's writing feels like listening to his voice, a voice with words he worked really hard to find and learn to use. Besides his journey from the gender forced upon him at birth to where he sits today, a healthy, happy, and strong young man, and I don't know if this was intentional or a by product of telling his story, but he teaches a lot about setting ones own and respecting each others personal space and boundaries.

(Finished June 20, 2018)