I had an extra challenge this week, when I told the story of “My Long Walk to Womanhood” to staff at Eisai Europe Ltd, both in their Hatfield office and to the 126 who joined virtually. My challenge may only seem very minor to most people, but to me, it was huge. let me explain…
I had a cold.
Not a big deal to cisgender (non-trans) people. Just an annoyance for them. However, for trans women, colds are a big problem as our deep voices are a trigger for our Gender Dysphoria and colds make everyone’s voice go even lower. So just imagine what it’s like for a transgender woman with a cold, who is also a public speaker! My voice is fairly deep at the best of times, but last week, I sounded like Barry White!
All I could do was to make a joke about it and move on. I don’t think anyone else was bothered about it, even though I was. My throat was sore too, and I had been drinking lots of water and doing steam inhalations to keep it lubricated. Thankfully, my voice held up (or down) and I managed to get through it OK. My talk was well-received too, as I received lots of compliments afterwards.
I am frantically trying to get my voice in shape for next week, as I have a couple of virtual speaking gigs and I will also be hosting the Queer Student Awards in Manchester. I really don’t want an encore from Bazza for that one!
#trans, #transgender #transawareness
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