Teens Speak Out on the Election

Ari, 15: I am worried and baffled by Trump’s re-election. I don’t have citizenship and am in the U.S. as part of a program that gives Ukrainian refugees parole for two years at a time. Will Trump end this program? Trump being a fan of Putin makes me worry about my home.

My Fantastic Fandom

by Anonymous

Around the time I started high school, I decided that I wanted to grow my hair out beyond the short bog I was forced to maintain on my head. When it was time for me to get a haircut, I playfully asked my mother, “Why do you want to make my hair ugly again?

Transitioning With My Parent

by D.Z.

Names have been changed. When I was little, my family would call me my mother’s daughter. I would request to match outfits any time I could, and often followed my parent around the house in their much-too-big-for-me clothes that I snuck out of their closet.

Reintroducing Myself to the World

by Marlin Xie

As the first semester of my sophomore year of high school came to an end, I stared into my bathroom mirror, and a speck of doubt began to devour every thought I had about who I was. A fog swallowed my mind, and I realized I couldn’t recognize my reflection.

The Film That Changed My Life

by Imogen Russell

Names have been changed. I was 12. She was 14.  I’m 17 now, and two years doesn’t seem like such a big gap, but at the end of that summer Thea was going into high school while I was still a middle schooler.

Questioning Gender, Finding Answers

by A.W.

It happened when I paused outside the girls bathroom during a normal 9th grade math class. For the first time, I began to feel awkward and fearful that I was somehow in the wrong place. I wasn’t sure why I was feeling this way.