Powerful poem from a transman

[pickledandpuzzled]

I don’t know whether this link will work. I know nothing about Ethan. I found this so powerful- the recognition of what was done to Emily.
I wonder whether there was a way to let Emily live.

Whatever- very expressive and powerful. Good luck to Ethan coming to terms with Emily. Poor Emily.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/r4wnttUY4TCsYkHR/?mibextid=KsPBc6

Gosh that is so powerful 🥹

So powerful and so sad.

It was powerful, but also refreshing to hear from a transman - I sometimes wonder where they are when trans issues are debated. I hope Ethan has a great life.

the comments are SOOOO weird. People are saying 'So brave, so sad. Glad you are living your best life Ethan!'

it's like they will cheerlead people off the edge off a cliff and still think they are doing the right thing.

How terribly confusing for a young person to be struggling with recognising feelings of regret, and to have older adults clapping you along as if you are making the right choice. Absolute gaslighting.

I found that devastating.

Yes, devastating. That poor kid.

The name Emily Smith might still be announced at a college graduation. The damage done is permanent, but Emily may still come to accept who she is.

So young. That’s there in my head too. Another young, broken lesbian who found an online fix that seemed easier than learning true self acceptance.

I don’t understand the comments. They must see something I don’t.

That poor young soul.

I see bravery and self awareness. I see amazing talent.

And hopefully the resilience to flourish despite their challenges.

The self awareness is dawning, that’s true. Agree about the talent. The pain running through it is going to take enormous courage to navigate.

Anything that creates so much new pain is not a cure. A cure would be remaining whole and learning to live with yourself as you are.

Transing the gay away. Just hideous.

I hate this homophobic, misogynistic, regressive, profoundly harmful movement.

Heartbreaking. The comment show how deeply the beliefs are embedded. How you can watch and listen to this poem and this is a young man loving his best life is beyond me.

*MsGoodenough · Today 19:22

Heartbreaking. The comment show how deeply the beliefs are embedded. How you can watch and listen to this poem and this is a young man loving his best life is beyond me.*

Fair enough. It is beyond me how you cant. I firmly believe some people are trans. I also believe that it is not as many as currently identify that way, that transitioning should be done carefully, slowly and with much much professional support from people who are not intimidated into agreeing with everything a client says in case they are told they are trans phobic. I also believe young lesbians should not be pushed to identify as trans and that women need safe spaces. But do I believe some people are really trans? Yes. Sorry it's beyond you to understand that.

But do I believe some people are really trans? Yes.

Would you explain what you mean by "really trans" please?

Heartbreaking

Ugh that’s so sad. So many teenage girls hate being a girl. Who wouldn’t?! If only she’d been born twenty years earlier or in a place where she met different people.

My point was more that the poet sounds utterly miserable and filled with pain.

Ethan/Emily is simply collateral damage in the ideology of the TRAs, nothing more. What’s one more teenager forced to live a life of ill health and confusion once reality hits? Their lives mean nothing, because for their story to be meaningful it calls into question the whole premise that you can be born into the wrong body. It was a powerful and painful account to watch, and I hope Ethan finds peace.

But it seems as if Ethan/Emily has profound regrets, and so isn’t ’really trans’.

How can you watch that video and come to the conclusion it was a young man living his ‘best life’…. ?

I hear recognition that there were sacrifices, that things were lost as well as gained. I don’t see unequivocal regret.

It's very powerful.

To me it reflects the dangerous and unhealthy belief that you can seperate from the person you were in the past. The idea that there are 2 yous is not psychologically healthy. This separation of self and death of your past is not how to deal with pain. We know that.

We know that it needs to be integrated into who you are, recognised as a whole complete you, with history, mistakes and difficulties.
That is what everyone has to do to differing degrees.

This is so painful because Emily is talked about as dead, disappeared and no longer existing. Ethan obviously feels pain with this idea. The physical process hasn't dealt with the acceptance of Emily, and who she is, instead it's erased her. That's why it feels so tragic.

Not read the comments but the reaction of the audience is fascinating. They obviously want this to be a simple cheerleading pro-transition message, and it’s not, but they still try to react like it is. They aren’t really listening.

That is a painful, deeply personal, deeply intimate exploration of loss of identity, of loss of self, of loss of future, , of loss of potential, of trying to reconnect with self and find some incorporation of self again, of honesty in trying to articulate what transition really means for all of this, of trying to work through all that and make sense of it.

It’s not at all the simple, ‘ I am now living my authentic self and all my problems have gone away!’ Message that trans activists want it to be. That the audience seem to need it to be.

That was a really brave poem to write and to read publicly. Because it was honest. The thing the Gender ideology movement hates most.

Pretty close to it, though.

It doesn’t read like someone who’s content with the irrevocable decision made.

It's possible to be sad at things lost and things that won't be and still feel you made the right decision.

It's not clear what Ethan thinks.

Some people here, like the audience want Ethan to be saying what they want.

@Atethehalloweenchocs
But do I believe some people are really trans? Yes.

Can you explain what you mean by really trans? On another thread recently, someone who believes that people can be 'really trans' was asked the same question. They said that these people had a mental illness called gender dysphoria. Is that what you mean by really trans or do you mean something else?