hi there

[ayebydan]

Hi there.

I'm Sam and I am nonbinary, afab. I have never really felt like I have belonged in a community like this and I hope that will change. I respond to female pronouns mostly because I don't live in a position where many would respect any others. Given I don't find female pronouns especially triggering I just kind of...live with it? Many friends simply use my name in place of pronouns and I like that.

I don't find my birth name triggering either most of the time; I just don't feel connected to it. If I hear 'Samantha' it simply does not register that someone is talking to me. However if I heard it and know I am being addressed I do find it jarring and uncomfortable. I feel like calling it triggering would be disrespectful to others who struggle far more hearing their dead names. I am privileged that the my birth name has a gender-neutral shortened version and society often immediately asks me 'do you prefer being called something else'?, usually meaning Sammy or Sam and I can then use my preferred name.



I guess for a long time I have felt caught between two worlds. Even as a non-binary person I have been accused of not being non-binary enough because of the things I have mentioned. I just want to find a place that accepts me for who I am I guess and I hope that place is here.