Lotuslands All Die (A Collection)

Not a He; Not a She (Spoken Word Poem)

(A/N: I read this to a room full of 100 people yesterday. It was my first time reading poetry to people, and I got a standing ovation. I'm extremely proud of this work. And believe it or not, I signed a copy of a transcript under my pseudonym Amie Doll. Yeah, that paper's gonna be worth millions one day.)

"It's a girl!"
"It's a boy!"
How about, "It's a human being that doesn't even understand the concept of gender yet."

"Girls wear dresses!"
"Boys wear tuxedos!"
Ever thought of, "Girls and boys can wear whatever clothing they want since clothes don't have genders."

"Girls wear makeup;
too feminine for boys."
Oh, so just because a human has a penis and not a vagina means that human can't wear what they want?

"Girls can't play sports.
That's a man's hobby."
Forgive me for having a set of genitalia which for some reason dehabilitates me.

"Hermaphrodite?
Disgusting."
The term is intersex, and no they can't get themselves pregnant.

"Have you heard of that tranny?
Bet they're a hermaphrodite."
What's in between my legs has nothing to do with how I express myself.

See this? That's my brain. This is what determines my gender. Gender does not equal sex.
And down there? What you like to joke about? That's my sex. Not my gender.
Your gender is how you feel: masculine feminine, neither, both, etc.
Your sex is your genitalia: male, female, mixtures, or nothing at all.

Born with a penis and you still identify as a boy? Fantastic: you're cisgendered.
Born with a penis and you identify as anything other than a boy? Even more fantastic: you're transgender.

And before I go on--
gender and sexuality?
Two completely different things that can be combined in an infinite amount of ways.

"Oh, you're just playing around, little girl. You're no scientist!"
Okay, talk to the millions that will agree with me that gender is separate from sex.
"Do they have proof?"
Yes. Of course. It's been tested.
"So you want to see boys wearing dresses and girls wearing tuxedos? Gross!"
No, you're gross for pushing your gender roles on little minds that don't even have a choice! They're brainwashed!
"Says you."
...
"Why are you so passionate about this?"
Who cares?
"I do."
Oh, really?
"Yes, ma'am."
And that's why...
"What's why?"

It's because people like you exist, all right?
It's because people like you have told me repeatedly--over and over again--that my identify is false and flawed.
How can something be wrong and deceitful if it makes me happy and explains emotions I have struggled to understand since I walked into those middle school halls and wondered why I didn't feel at home with the girls, and the boys refused to accept me as one of their own.
Ridiculed and pushed aside because I wasn't feminine enough; too masculine in personality and tone. I was bold; I was loud; I didn't like boys and I still don't like them now.
Mom, no. I'm not going to have a boyfriend. Ever. None of them like me, anyway.
No, I'm not gay--I'm just one of the forgotten; the lost; the asexual in its prime.
And don't you dare get smart with me.
I am not a she.
I am not a he.
I am nobody in your eyes.