I Felt Like Me

Blog post contributed by Wren Rathbone @sugar.coated.galaxies

I volunteered at a haunted trail when I was 19 years old. Surrounded by objects of horror and spooky props, dressed in all black in so many layers that you could no longer perceive my body, a white mask covering my face, I was no longer a person, I became an enigma.

One person walked by, accidentally kicking my foot. I stood, following behind them and their friend. Not knowing my gender, they stumbled back yelling "I'm sorry, sir!" multiple times. In that moment, not perceived by my skin, surrounded by horror, called by a masculine honorific, I truly understood the term gender euphoria.

I felt like me, truly and fully, for the first time.