My dearest family and friends,

I am writing this letter to inform you of an important change occurring in my life. Ever since I was a
child, I was always very uncomfortable in my body and I felt like something was wrong but I could never figure
out what it was. I would play with the kids in my neighborhood and always tried really hard to fit in with the
boys, and when I didnt, I would get really upset. Growing up, I wasnt your average girl. Instead of enjoying
shopping, fashion, and make up, I was far more interested in sports and basketball shoes. I just thought it was
what made me unique. I remember having meltdowns every time I had to wear a dress or something very girly.
After puberty hit, things got dark for me. I felt sick all the time, I had severe migraines, and every time I
menstruated I would have panic attacks. I suffered years of insomnia, depression, and social anxiety. I couldnt
stand looking people in the eye, and I hated any kind of attention. I spent most of my time alone. I tried really
hard to be a normal girl. I dressed like one, acted like one, but I never felt like myself and I never felt like I fit
in. I just accepted that I was never going to be happy with my life and I would just have to deal with it.
When I started school at George Mason University, I got involved in the GMU Pride Alliance, the LGBT
support group on campus. I met a lot of amazing people through it and made lasting friendships. Through being
involved in this group I learned a lot about other people and what they go through, particularly sexual minorities.
They taught me that it is okay to be a girl and not feel feminine and to present yourself as masculine if you want
to. I started doing so, and I finally started to feel more comfortable in my own skin. I was more confident, happy,
and outgoing. However, after doing so for a while, my severe anxiety and desire to always be alone came back
worse than it ever was before. I felt like I was naked, like I was being looked at by everyone and they werent
seeing the real me, and it made me feel awful.
I started searching for help and answers for what I was going through. I ended up getting in touch with
transgender males on social networking sites and they helped me with the anxiety I was feeling. A transgender
male is someone who was born in a female body, but in their mind, they are a boy. Some refer to it as being born
into the wrong body or being assigned female at birth. The term transgender is an umbrella term simply
meaning that a person identifies as a gender different from what was assigned to them at birth. In Western society,
gender is determined by sex. Sex is determined by the presence of male or female genitalia at birth, and we are
taught to socialize people with male genitalia as boys and people with female genitalia as girls. Many other
societies in the world do not do this, and they have multiple genders instead of two. Most of the time, people are
happy being socialized into and identify themselves as their assigned gender. But for some people, this doesnt
happen. According to statistics from The Williams Institute at UCLA, about 0.3% of the US population is
transgender. That means there are about 941,700 transgender individuals living in the United States alone. The
American Psychiatric Association estimates that there are over 18,000,000 transgender people worldwide.
Transgenderism is not a choice. Gender and sexuality are not choices. They naturally occur in humans and
hundreds of other species on earth. Transgenderism is classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders as gender dysphoria. Science has proven that transgender people have a neurological intersex
condition, meaning their brain sex does not fully or completely match up to their physical sex. This is possible
because we all spend the first eight weeks of prenatal development as a female. Around that time is when
androgens kick in for males and start masculinizing the body. However, for reasons undetermined, the
masculinization can affect the body but have no or only a partial effect on the brain, or vice versa.
After learning more about transgenderism and talking to transgender boys about their experiences, I
realized that I myself am transgender. I have never felt happy in my body and always hated being a girl. In my
head, Ive always been a boy, but I have been living as a girl for the past twenty-one years. This realization was

scary at first, I didnt think anyone was going to accept me for who I am, and I was going to continue being
unhappy. Luckily with the support of my amazing parents and friends, I accepted who I am and I can say with
confidence that I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life. I decided that I am going to transition from
female to male.
I have changed my appearance to look more masculine. I also have been seeing a doctor at a highly
acclaimed health clinic that specializes in Hormone Replacement Therapy. Hormone Replacement Therapy, or
HRT, is a process people use to supplement hormones in their body to care for imbalances. For transgender
individuals, they are prescribed the hormone of the gender they want to present as. This allows them to look and
feel like the gender they identify as. For female to male transgender individuals like myself, we are prescribed
testosterone to lower our estrogen levels and raise our testosterone levels. I started taking testosterone on
September 18, 2014 and I already feel incredible. It has improved my appetite, energy, sleep habits, mood, as well
as so many other benefits. Being on testosterone is similar to a boy going through puberty. Over time, the
testosterone will cause my voice to drop and my body to look more like a males body. These changes are very
gradual and it will take a couple years for prominent changes to occur. My goal in doing this is to appear male so
that society treats me as a male.
Physically looking male is part of the process, but socially being male is a big part of it too. Transgender
people will most often choose a name that is either gender neutral or of the gender they wish to identify as. The
masculine name I have chosen for myself is Blake. I will be legally changing my name from my birth name to my
chosen name as soon as possible. Another part of being socially male that is a big issue is gender pronouns, which
are she/her for females and he/him for males. It is very important to refer to a transgender individual by the
pronouns they prefer. Not doing so can cause a lot of pain in them. I prefer to be referred to by masculine
pronouns and words, like he, him, son, nephew, etc. Please try to call me Blake or Mitchell, he/him and refrain
from using my birth name and gender. This will take some time to adjust, but it gets easier over time.
I understand transgenderism is not something that is completely understood or accepted by society and
this may be something that is very hard to hear. My transition is just as difficult for the people around me as it is
for me. You may not be able to understand or accept this now, and that is okay. People do so each at their own
paces. All that I could ask is to try to call me Blake or Mitchell and use he/him pronouns. This will be a very
difficult change, and everyone will make the mistake of using my assigned female identity, but it does get better
over time.
A reaction a lot of people have to someone close to them who comes out as transgender is that they feel
loss and grief. Some describe it as feeling as if the person as died. If this is how you feel, just know that it is
completely normal and you are not alone. Also understand that I am not dying and nobody is losing me. I am still
here. I have always been Blake Mitchell, he is the person you have known the span of knowing me. I just was
living behind a mask named Melissa which made me very unhappy. Now that I am out, I feel extremely liberated
and confident. Many people have said that I am brave or they feel bad for me for having to go through something
so difficult, but the truth is I dont feel overburdened or bad in any way. I feel like now I can finally be who I truly
am and I am extremely happy to be doing so. A misconception people have is that my transition will be just like
well known peoples transitions that were made public, such as Chaz Bono or Rene Richards. This is far from
true. Every single transgender individual has a different experience with their transition, some even decide to not
transition at all. The process differs from person to person.

Thank you very much for reading this letter. You are an important part of my life and I wanted to explain
what is going on with me so that you can understand. I wish it were simpler so that I dont have to present others
with overwhelming amounts of information but this leaves me without that choice. Your love and support mean
the world to me. I am here to support you as much as you support me. If you have any questions about anything,
please contact me.
If youd like to learn more, refer to the following resources. They include a lot of educational information, I
highly recommend looking through them before asking any questions:
Websiteshttp://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/transgender.pdf
http://transwhat.org/allyship/
http://www.thegenderbook.com/
http://www.gires.org.uk/glossary.php
BooksThe Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals by Stephanie A. Brill
Transgender 101: A Simple Guide to a Complex Issue by Nicholas M. Teich