Dystopia For A Boy

Introduction

My name is Magnus Hjaelmar Tomasko. I was born female, then transitioned to male. I wrote this story first as a hero journey in my English III Honors class junior year for the hero journey project. The teacher had us generate lists of milestones in our lives, and out of all there was, a simple milestone titled "Transgender" stood out above the rest. Being transgender, and not yet out, this story poked at me for 17 years begging to be told, screaming to be written, clawing at everything to break through and exist outside myself. So I knew there was only one option: write the story.

This is honestly the hardest thing I've ever written. Looking back on it a year and a half later, it seems extremely condensed and shortened. It can't do justice to the pain I've experienced entirely. But the main point is still there: the struggles of being transgender. It's meant to be a short story. I don't want to expand on it more, not when the impact is still there.

Every event which occurs within the story actually happened, minus the GPD and their reports. And of course, the very ending itself. I wrote this before senior year began and forged an ending to conclude the story.

So, with those explanations out of the way, I'd like to address the important things.

What is transgender?

Transgender: "a term used to describe people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth" (https://www.glaad.org/transgender/transfaq)

Gender Identity: "a person's internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman (or boy or girl.) For some people, their gender identity does not fit neatly into those two choices" (https://www.glaad.org/transgender/transfaq)

The difference between gender and sexual identity/orientation:  "Sexual orientation describes a person's enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction to another person (for example: straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual), while gender identity describes a person's, internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman, or someone outside of the gender binary." (https://www.glaad.org/transgender/transfaq)

Oftentimes people who struggle with gender or sexuality may be encountering a deep struggle like the one you are about to read. This could lead to mental disorders or worse: suicide. So here I will leave a toll-free phone number to call for suicide and mental illness, not just for gender and sexuality reasons. Please seek help when needed. Mental health is no joke.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline/Mental Health Hotline/Crisis Hotline: 1-800-273-8255 (or text ANSWER to 839863)

This line above is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Do not hesitate to call.

Now, this story is essentially a narrative told from my viewpoint: Earth as a dystopian hell. To me, I did live in a dystopian hell until I came out, in which case it then felt more like dystopia had been disbanded and the world moved on but many still clung to the old ways despite the beginning of a new era. But that's for another story. This is what came before dystopia was disbanded, and this is my life. This is my story. And I thank you for taking time out of your day(s) to read it, and sincerely hope you come away with two things: realizing transgender isn't bad, and realizing why this world needs to change.

This is Dystopia For A Boy.