Within the transgender community there is a term called passing. Passing is when a transgender person becomes feminine or masculine enough to “pass” as a cisgender person.

The term passing is a very controversial term within the community. When we talk about cisgender women, we treat all women as women regardless of how feminine or masculine they look. If a cisgender woman was misgendered, they would profusely apologize for calling the woman a man. Transgender women are also women, so they deserve the same respect and treatment as cisgender women do. So if all transgender women are women, so then why do we place such importance on passing? When you are a woman, you deserve to be able to live as a woman and be treated as a woman regardless of how you look. All women deserve to be women.

I am passing, and I am pretty. I know I am not 100% passing as most people when they see me, there is something that may betray me slightly and will let them know that I am transgender, but those instances are slowly going way.

I am always open and honest as to being transgender. I make it a point to somehow work it into the conversation such as there is no doubt in people’s minds. I do so to increase visibility into the community and to show other people that we are just normal people, and I am just a normal girl.