Chloe Cole

I didn't know that transgenderism was really a thing until I started using the internet.

And it started with pretty innocent –

Like memes and like connecting with other people across the world over like shared interest around things like rock music that I listen to or bands I like or cartoons I watch.

But there is I think now in a lot of what they call fan bases on the Internet, they've become very oriented around ideology and not just the interest around themselves or around people.

Not just the interest itself.

In a lot of these communities now, it's filled with these young adults and these children even who are focusing primarily on left-wing ideology.

It was through these communities where I first came to connect with other people around my interests that I started learning about things like feminism, about queer theory, and then eventually I learned about transgenderism through these other kids who were

The thing that really drew me in the most was not just like the novelty of these subjects, but knowing that these other kids were going through exactly what I was at that time, being confused about the changes of puberty and the discomfort that comes with that and not really knowing who they were until they supposedly found their true selves through the lens of transitioning.

Right.

And it was never just one moment in time that I just immediately thought, okay, this is me.

It was through peer influence, arguably, and seeing these other kids who were very similar to me in a lot of ways, not just superficially through our interests, but also in the things that they struggle with at home or mentally and these...

Just the normal confusion that happens around people, I would say.

I mean, my grades were good, but I...

I was struggling to make friends at school.

I had just moved to a new school and I was pretty much the odd one out at all times.

And as much as I wanted to play sports, I was worried about – I wasn't a very coordinated kid.

I didn't have a good relationship with my body for the most part in a lot of different ways.

I was very sedentary.

And I was worried about the judgment that people would give me if I didn't play well on the team.

So I just – I ruined myself.