This was me yesterday, for TDOV (It's already April 1 here in Australia) sitting in front of the worlds largest trans flag. Photo taken by the wonderful @supakaity@piefed.blahaj.zone.

Today is 9 years since I came out to my then 11 year old kid, and tomorrow is 9 years since I started medically transitioning.

I was 41 years old then. Trans awareness was just on the upkick. Everyone knew Caitlyn Jenner. Laverne Cox had appeared on the cover of TIME magazine... Yet I was still the first trans person most people had met.

At the time, my understanding of gender was very binary, and my own goals pretty much consisted of "Get transition out of the way, blend back in to the world, and get on with life without much talking about the trans thing"

But, I went to my first Pride, and I was changed forever. I was surrounded by my people, which wasn't something I'd ever felt before. And with time, I came to have a more nuanced understanding of gender, and the artificial nature of the binary. And I also came to appreciate my own queerness, and completely lost the desire to blend in and hide amongst the society that had made it so hard to accept myself in the first place.

And now, I can't help myself. I run gender diverse events, I create spaces and help foster queer communities. I stand loud and visible and proud, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I see all of you glorious bitches, bastards and ne'er-do-wells, and I love you all!