"The Courage to Tell a Hidden Story"

“The Courage to tell a Hidden Story”                                        

By: Infinite Darlene

After watching the TED Video, The Courage to Tell a Hidden Story, I thought about how  I began to accept my identity. I was the star quarterback of the football team in school. But behind closed doors, I was a lost boy. My birth name was Daryl until I changed it to Darlene. I had everything a girl could wish for. Except for one thing: I physically wasn’t a girl. Basically, I was a girl trapped in a man’s body. That was my hidden story. Being a transgender, I was looked upon as an insult to society. Similar to my life, In the video, Eman Mohammed states, “ Being the first female Photojournalist in my country was considered an insult to local traditions” (Mohammed, “The courage to tell a hidden story”).   No one knew that I was Darlene because I was too afraid to be myself. I was afraid of rejection from my friends, my peers at school, and most importantly, my parents. Eman’s video connects to my feelings of rejections from others because she says, “ My presence was unwelcomed by all possible means” (Mohammed, “The courage to tell a hidden story”). I felt that if I presented that I was a transgender, I would also feel unwelcomed by everyone in society. When I reached the age of sixteen, my parents started to wonder why I wasn’t dating any girls. Long story short, I got the courage to tell them who I really was and demanded them to call me Darlene.  They did not object and simply respected my request. I was honestly shocked they took my news so well. Everyone around me and in school accepted me. Fast forward six months later, I am the homecoming queen and star quarterback. My sexuality is know longer a hidden story because of my found courage.

Bibliography:

Mohammed, E . (2014 March). “ The Courage to Tell a Hidden Story.” Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/eman_mohammed_the_courage_to_tell_a_hidden_story?language=en