This is a story of two people navigating the medical system: my story, and the story of a woman whose name I have forgotten. I want to point that out because it is the part I can’t forgive myself for. I can talk about her in a way that reflects the importance she once held in my life, yet I lost the most basic thing about her. She studied English at NYU in the late sixties. Imagine how rare that was: a Thai woman, in that time, studying in that city, coming home fluent in a l

How does one express anger? That’s not a fair question. You don’t. Not as a woman. Especially when that woman is trans. Or black. Or many others scrutinized more than other groups of women. But it is a universal experience for women. Feeling this human emotion and always having to focus on how to strategically let it out. Like a fart. It must be done discretely, preferably away from anyone else, and with shame. It’s rare to be in a group that will tolerate, let alone be posit