#topsurgery

Long time since I’ve posted but life update! No more tiddies!

funny thing about stranger things “it’s up to interpretation” is there’s only two possible scenarios, both of which we deserve better & we KNOW from ofmd that it’s possible to have it.

1: they are just straight-up queerbaiting under the excuse that “he doesn’t know himself yet.” yes, he is still pretty young in the show and taking time to figure yourself out is ok! but you can make a character queer without having it all figured out yet, or even saying any identity at all. in ofmd there is not a single use of a label, and stede is clearly figuring things out throughout the first season. but the queerness is not subtext. there are scenes that make it very clear without using labels. and we all love it! the problem is when your character’s queerness is entirely subtext, tiny hints here and there, and your cast hypes it up in fairly clear terms, then you say, oh. well maybe he is maybe he isn’t it’s 2022 we don’t need labels ❤️

2: volume 2 will make him explicitly queer, the cast was hyped about this and said too much, netflix freaked and told them to walk it back because, spoilers i really wouldn’t be surprised with netflix’s track record. but y’all don’t need to do this! if people are excited, let us be excited. if the cast is spoiling too much, just tell them to be more careful. you don’t need to drop the line that’s been weaponized against us for YEARS that it’s up to interpretation. and again, we have seen in ofmd that cast/creators basically spoiling things is not a big deal, if anything it promotes more hype around the show within reason. they’ve pretty much confirmed izzy is gay. vico talked about the idea of roach giving jim top surgery and having a polyam relationship with spanish jackie and olu. david jenkins said the next season is going to focus on heartbreak. nathan is freely tweeting as if he’s going to be part of season 2 despite supposedly being dead. we don’t care! we eat it up!!!

Mauricio Ochieng, 30, Kisumu state, Kenya

Mauricio travels seven hours on a bus to Nairobi to collect his testosterone injections. It’s a journey he’s been making for over a year. It’s worth it.

“With the injections my body has started changing, I look less ‘feminine’, my voice is deeper and I’m growing a beard,” he says. “I was finally on the way to becoming myself. I am a man. I was never a woman.”

Growing up in rural Kenya, about 350km from the capital Nairobi, Mauricio knew he was different. He has more than 150 cousins and couldn’t relate to any of them.

“I was the black sheep of the family.”

He knew that he was not a girl, despite his body. His parents believed he was a lesbian. That was bad enough, they said, but it was something they understood. When he told them that he was a man in a woman’s body, they made him leave the family home.

Mauricio was 16 and homeless. He was sexually assaulted multiple times. Just over a year later, he fell pregnant from one of the rapes. People called him a “chkora”, a slur for a street beggar.

He went to his mother’s house and said: “Please don’t make me give birth in the street like a dog.”

She let him come home.

Mauricio’s daughter was born in 2007. He worked at the local market, buying and selling shoes.

In 2018 he decided to begin his transition. Testosterone injections cost around 1,200 shilling per dose (about £9) - which is a day’s work.

The 14-hour round trip each month to collect his medication felt like a huge achievement. Mauricio was saving up for Top Surgery: to have his breasts removed.

Then coronavirus reached Kenya, and soon lockdown restrictions followed.

Mauricio does not have his next supply of testosterone.

“I’m having sleepless nights, depression,” he says. “What will happen if I cannot have access to my medication? What will all this pain have been for?

"I am a trans man in a transphobic country. If I don’t get my medication what will happen to my body - it is already changing. Will I look abnormal? Who is going to fight for us to be heard in this chaos?”

about last night…

8 years on T documented for science ‍

Some notes and answers to FAQs:

❇️ Hormones are simply a tool some people use to alleviate dysphoria. Not everyone wants them, and many who do don’t have access. That doesn’t make them any less trans.

❇️ I came out, started my social transition, and began working out a few months prior to starting T. I couldn’t get a gym membership so I jogged and did home workouts.

❇️ My hormones are within standard male range. Dedication and hard work builds muscle, not T.

❇️ Therapy and mental healthcare have been crucial. My body and mind have gone through a lot and it’s important to care for both. It can be difficult but I’ve never doubted my choice or taken this life for granted.

Thank you all for the support and love along the way, and Happy New Year!

Brick by brick by brick