I don't think it displays a notification or news feed thing if you change your name, so you might not realise who I am at first. Who the fuck is Megan <new last name>? Well, I am, obviously. I hope so. I haven't changed my name on Facebook before so I hope I pressed the right button which does the thing. I've decided this '<deadname>' shit can come to an end, and it's time to admit to the world: I am a transgender woman. Maybe you didn't see that coming, or maybe I told you already, or maybe you just suspected that all along and now you're like "HA THOUGHT SO". I don't know, I'm bad at writing speeches. (I also changed my last name as well, just because that other one kinda sucks, just sayin')

I guess I've sorta known something was different about me for quite a while, though I'm not really one of those "I knew I was a girl since I was 5" people. Actually, I don't think that ever happens. But anyway, around a year and a bit ago, or maybe it was 2 years, I figured out the missing piece was that I'm internally female and that mismatch with my body was causing me all sorts of depression and distress, thanks to a few notable people who had gone through the same stuff who were able to put an end to the questioning that's been going on for maybe 4 years or so. I realised that this would make me happy.... ier. I shouldn't say it's made me happy entirely, there's still other things in my life I have to worry about, and my transition isn't complete yet. I probably still don't pass (my voice is still masculine as shit because I haven't gotten around to training it, and laser hasn't removed all the hair from my face yet), but I had to do this.

I'm still hella nervous, and after I post this submit button I will inevitably be shivering and quivering like mad. I've decided it's better than continuing to bottle this up though, and perhaps at a time like this where LGBT people are at risk of being attacked (albeit less such in this country), I figure the community needs visibilty. And I can help with that. Like maybe if 1 million people came out as transgender and didn't go stealth, they'd become well-known in society and people who don't pass entirely or those who have other differences from cis people can avoid being harassed because of those things, because it becomes normal... I dunno. Maybe that wouldn't work at all. But it's a nice theory, right?

I'm still going to show up in so-called "guymode" at times (for the uninitiated: dressing in male clothing / not slathering myself with buttloads of makeup), just because it's convenient. At some point that will come to an end when it becomes impossible to look male anymore... which will be a great accomplishment, but unlikely to happen soon.

Anyway, the stuff for people who might read this post and go "whaaaaa?", here's my humble requests: Just call me Megan, use she/her pronouns (would you use any other pronouns for a woman?), don't ask me about my genitals or other stupid shit cis people do, and don't murder me and throw my corpse into a lake. That last one's just a personal preference of mine, sorry. Just a little thing that would bother me if you did that.

Is that all the things I ought to say here? Probably.

I guess that's it, then. Sorry if you were hoping I was going to come out as gay. I mean, I am gay too, but for other women.