Hi everybody!
My name is Aidan Kircheim and besides the current president of PFLAG Long Island, I am also a transgender man.
I like comic books, video games, Dungeons and Dragons, and cute stuffed toys. If there’s a need to talk to someone about the recent Marvel Secret Wars event or the latest Virtual Reality technology, I can be that guy.
However, this ongoing segment is going to be about my realization and growth from a young woman into an adult man (and not at all about comic books… sadly).
Some topics I’d like to discuss as these segments continue are: my family and their reactions, things that I look back on during my time as a female that make complete sense now, my transition not only from female to male in general but also from my initial struggle with identifying as a lesbian – to embracing the man I truly always was as well as travels and experiences, my sexuality, and anything else that comes up along the way!
I will also make myself available to have open communication with anyone who desires it, including issues or questions to address in my future contributions to TEB (Transgender Ear Bender) – feel free to email through the PFLAG Long island email address ([email protected]) and I’ll be happy to chat, listen, and anything in-between!
I suppose I should start at the beginning. I was born on a Friday evening at 5:25pm, at South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, NY. My two brothers Matthew and Michael (who were ten and eight years old, respectively, at the time) were eagerly awaiting my arrival, as were my parents, but it was my grandmother who was the most excited about her next grandchild. The story goes – when she found out it was a girl, she disappeared on a shopping spree for two days and came back with toys and blankets and clothes and a crib. She was excited to finally have a baby girl in the family; they all were.
I learned from a very young age (as most children do) what a girl was supposed to be, and I was determined to fit the mold to make my parents happy. Much of my early life was lived for my parents, and trying to make up for how troublesome my brother Michael was. I wanted to make life easier for them and just be a good kid, even if it meant that I wasn’t emotionally stable all of the time. I learned that girls are supposed to like certain things, wear certain clothes, grow their hair long, and act a certain way. So I did what I felt like I had to, and became a fantastic actress.
I secretly wanted to act just like my brothers, and get away with things they got away with, instead of constantly being told to be more “ladylike”. I was a “tomboy”, and always had more friends who were boys. I got along better with boys, and I was happier with boys. Regardless, I played the part of a girl as best as I could, and apparently it was good enough that when I came out as transgender at the age of 22, no one had seen it coming!
I’m going to start the next segment elaborating on what it was like to be a child in my family, living in a small town on Long Island. Hope you join us for the next one, and feel free to let me know of anything specific you’d like me to cover – or just that you’d like to hear about.
Thanks and see you next time!
