These lessons you have learnt, jaye. Heed them well and they will see you round town - you will survive - you will not cry - you will be joyful and at peace...
Ommm...ting!
...listen to your MP3 player and you will not hear what people say about you... you will be deaf to the screeching laughter of teenagers...you will not hear them say you are a man...
Ommm...ting!
...you are safe in bookshops, properties owned by the National Trust, at work (mostly), in better class supermarkets (mostly), in H&M and M&S. You are not safe in places where teenagers congregate, you are not safe in pubs where drunk hetero men gather, you are not safe on buses... you are NOT safe in Hoo. Where you live....
Ommm...ting!
...you are safer wearing a skirt or a dress... you are less safe wearing jeans... you are safer wearing makeup... you are safer with your hair down because it can hide your face... you are safe in the ladies loo... though you might not feel it, you have always been safe there. But you fear you might be challenged - you have to summon your courage to push that door...
Ommm...ting!
...to try on clothes : approach the shop assistant confidently, brim over with confidence, don't try too hard, just look supremely breezy and confident.. Stride, jaye, stride. You have never been turned away but you fear you might be....you have heard them whisper 'man'... they have summoned their friend to see you leave the changing room...
Ommm...ting!
...if someone in a shop calls you 'Sir' correct them at once. You have never done this jaye, you have to start. Correct everybody. Know they are wrong.
Ommm...ting!
...you don't have to look good to be female. You can - but you don't have to. You can wear no makeup, you can not shave off the untreated facial hair, you can wear jeans - you are under no obligation to look a certain way to have an identity. But if you fuck around with it you will be less safe...
Ommm...ting!
...walk past teenagers slowly. Avoid the temptation to scurry past. If you walk past slowly that will shout 'tranny' at your back. They will say loudly 'THAT'S A MAN, THAT'S A MAN'... that is the worst that will happen. It will hurt but you'll live. Know they are wrong.
Ommm...ting!
...living any other way is not an option. Living any other way would be bad for you and the people you love. Living any other way is not. An. Option.
Ommm..........
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