This is the moment you’ve been waiting for.

This is it. The call to action, the signal, the sign that says: you can write. So go write. 

Don’t believe me? Then believe this: I was told I would never make it as a writer. And I proved them wrong. So when I tell you that you’re a writer, why not prove me right? 

Still don’t believe me? Then believe this: after generations and generations of silencing, our voices need to be heard, to be read, to be published. For too long transgender and gender diverse people have had our stories written for us, not by us. 

So when I say you can write, what I mean is: you, yes you, have the expertise, the skills and the artistry to express who you are through text, through voice, through creativity. 

What I mean is: we need you. We need your writing so other transgender and gender diverse people can see themselves, perhaps for the very first time, reflected back in your words. We need your writing so we can show people who we really are and who we’ve always been.

Your writing, our writing, is a revolution. 

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. I am telling you from the very centre of my transgender heart that, if you want to, you can and should write. 

You are a writer if you say you are. 

Your voice is needed. 

Your voice is valid. 

And I also know this: you are going to be great.