Posted inSELVES NEWSLETTER

A hateful anti-trans radio ad brought flashbacks to dark moments and places — but also motivation

The radio played a familiar early 2000s Mariah Carey tune, which made me nostalgic. Then an advertisement began to play. A familiar-sounding voice began to talk about “boys taking estrogen” and “girls growing facial hair.” I immediately went on alert. It was the same type of rhetoric that had followed me in my early transition.