Matt Dawkins

Just recently, Matt Dawkins came out as a transgender in my school. In the this article he tells his story of the hard feelings he had to deal with throughout his whole childhood.

I knew Matt when he was a girl. I would go to summer camp with him and nothing really stood out to me that there was something wrong. When we got to middle school, everything seemed normal. When we got to high school I didn't see any change in how he acted.

The fact that someone could feel so much pain and not show it to the public is astounding. I didn't realize how much he went through in his head before his body changed. But I am glad that he did not go through the bullying everyone hears about happening on the news.

Many people, young and old, go through this across the globe and it makes you realize that the world is changing. 50 years ago, I don't think anyone could have predicted this level of social change and social acceptance. Now, I am not diluting myself into thinking that this world is fully accepting of gay, lesbian, and transgender people; I know that it isn't. But, you can not deny that we have made some headway in the matter.

Even in this time of riots in the streets for equal rights for African Americans, yet again, I am hopeful that we will only have this one time, fighting for equal rights for gay, lesbian, and transgender people. I hope that 50 years from now, the matter will be solved and we will not have to back track in history. I hope that everyone will accept everything that a person chooses, that you can live your life freely without looks on the street, or protests in front of businesses. But, then again, hope is for the delusional.