One elderly lady looked at me with sad compassion and said: “You’re wasting your youth on this passing fad.” 

She meant: “You’re a girl.” 

She meant: “You’ll regret your short hair looking at old pictures.” 

She meant: “No good boy will ever date a spoiled girl (!) like you.” 

I met another older person that day. They noticed my THEY / THEM pin from across the room and came up to me. They had tears in their eyes and the widest smile on their face. Then they said: “I’m happy for you because when I was young I didn’t know what non-binary meant. I’m 93 now and I feel like I wasted my youth on being someone I am not. I am myself now but it’s taken a while.” 

That night I cried. Because I am young. 

Email Anna-Dmitry at [email protected].