My name is Taylor and for the last year and a half I have been lucky enough to live in San Francisco while pursuing my Master’s degree. I chose San Francisco, in part, because of it’s widely known diversity regarding gender identity and sexual orientation. My partner and I moved here from Baltimore, definitely a big change! I will be 26 in a couple of months and for as long as I can remember have never felt comfortable in my birth sex/gender designation of female. Being in SF has allowed me to explore my gender identity more-I identify as genderqueer and “came out” as transgender around 5 years ago, while still an undergraduate. It wasn’t until we moved to San Francisco that I was able to explore what being trans meant to me without feelings of shame or guilt. This is due, in part, to meeting so many other trans folk, but also due to a class that I am fortunate enough to have taken. As one of the only classes of its kind in the country, my experience taking the course, Intro. to transgender studies, has allowed me to talk about and think about gender through an academic lens-one I feel most comfortable with. This blog is being created as partial fulfillment of an assignment given in the afore mentioned class, but also as an informal platform wherein I can further explore my gender identity as I get ready to have (and recover from having) chest surgery.