A common refrain I've heard in the past is something like "why do you have to make being trans such a huge part of your identity?" At the moment, I think about being trans every day, because I have to.
Read moreAotearoa seems a little dimmer today. The sitting government using urgency to rush through a bill ahead of a Waitangi Tribunal hearing seems so out the gate - I feel like if you wrote it in fiction, you'd be ridiculed for being too unrealistic.
Read moreAround eleven, twelve-ish years ago, a young and very nervous Jennifer Shields went to see her doctor. After a bit of a circuitous journey, ten years and one month and a few days ago, she went back to her doctor and left with a small but lifechanging bit of paper.
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Growing up, my grandfather knew everything. As an eternally-curious child (ask my mother how she feels about the question why?), it was a blessing to have him at my fingertips.
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On new years eve eight years ago I moved back home to Ōtautahi, a city I hadn't lived in since I was ten, a city that had changed so much in the years since. It was the best decision I ever made - I'm so grateful for it today.
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I am relentless with hope. We keep turning up. Ōtautahi spoke up, big time.
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