Leo sat at the end of the bar, nursing a soda. He was twenty-two, three months on T, and still felt like he was wearing a costume that didn't quite fit—not because it was the wrong identity, but because he hadn't yet learned how to take up space in it.
The trans community has revolutionized how we talk about identity. Terms you use every day—like and "pronouns" (she/they/he)—have been popularized primarily by trans activists and writers.
The modern LGBTQ+ rights movement was largely ignited by trans women of color, such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, during the Stonewall Uprising and the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot Legal and Social Challenges: