Name day! Nice to meet you, I’m Jack.

Changing my name, gender, and having access to HRT have been the most affirming & life changing experiences for me. While some surgeries loom on my mind, I wish this aspect of trans life was given more attention. A name and the right pronouns means so much.

When I was a kid I wrote a different name on my paper every few months. When my mom said the teachers asked why I did it I just had no words and stopped. I used to just cringe at my name even though I thought it was a good one. Now I hear my new name and it makes me feel visible and real. It’s like I was a wandering ghost and my name is the spell that summoned me from the dark underworld.

So nice to meet you, officially.

James: the usurper of kings. But also just call me whatever, Jack, Jaeck, Jimmy, Damnit Jim.. I’m not actually trying to put on heirs, that is the point of supplanting.

Jasper: Stone, inert, colorful, precious, but only semi. My made up names as a kid were often semi-precious stones. This would be my first but I wanted to minimize questions about where I keep my Victorian time-traveling machine.

Grimm: (Because hypenating Grimm-Webb is too spooky for my already too spooky demeanor) I simply took my wife’s family name.

#TransgenderRightsAreHumanRights #FTM #TransMan #Transgender #Nonbinary