TransRural Lives

View Original

Emily

Emily Sloan (she/her/hers) 

Emily Sloan is a white, transgender woman who always knew she was different. But Emily didn’t identify as transgender until 2019, at 62, when she came across YouTube videos by trans women sharing their stories and something “exploded in [her] head.” She currently lives in Birch Bay, Washington, with her wife of 37 years.

Here, Emily talks about coming out to her wife, her two adult daughters, and at work. She also discusses the joy she’s felt since transitioning, her growing self-confidence, finding trans friends online and a desire to be more social and build community.  

Related archival material:

In vignette 15, Emily mentions the 1992 film, The Crying Game. The film is discussed in the April/May 1993 issue of Gender Trash From Hell, linked here from the Digital Transgender Archive.

Citation: Phillippa, Xanthra.  "Gender Trash From Hell #1."  Pamphlet.  1993.  Digital Transgender Archive,  https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/xg94hp65x  (accessed September 24, 2023).


Audio Stories | Transcripts

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

1. Coming Out to Wife (anxiety, family, coming out, spouses/partners)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

2. Transitioning (affirmation, family, gender expression, medical care, medical transition, spouses/

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

3. Coming Out at Work (anxiety, affirmation, coming out, support, stealth, work, work support)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

4. Relationship with Daughters (children, family, support, joy)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

5. Finding Community (community, friends, online, rural life, support)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

6. Discord (aging, community, online, rural life, support)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

7. Ingersoll (aging, community, pandeic, rural life, trans support groups)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

8. Community Groups (aging, gender identity, online, pandemic, rural life, trans support groups)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

9. Realizations (adolescence, family, gender identity, identity relaizations, life course, parents)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

10. Feeling Different (aging, anxiety, gender expression, work)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

11. Representation (gender identity, identity relaizations, online, representations)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

12. Realizing (aging, gender expression, identity relaizations, online)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

13. Knowing Earlier (aging, identity realizations)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

14. If Realized Sooner (childhood, identity realization, life course, parents, representation)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

15. Representation (gender identity, representation)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

16. Awareness of Trans Women (gender identity, represeentation)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

17. Searching for Something (gender identity, representation)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

18. COVID (coming out, online, pandemic)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

19. Later Life Transition (aging, children, life course, spouse/partner, religion)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

20. What to Wear (aging, gender expression)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

21. Swimsuit (aging, gender expression, medical transition)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

22. Clothing in Public (gender expression, gender ideals, medical transition)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

23. Clothing Birch Bay (anxiety, gender expresion, survival strategies, urban-rural movements)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

24. Clothing Seattle (aging, gender expression, urban-rural movements)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

25. Bags (gender expression, survival strategies)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

26. Earrings (gender expression, joy, spouses/partners, survival strategies)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

27. Self-Confidence (aging, community, friends, joy, spouses/partners, trans living)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

28. Out to Parents (coming out, family, online, parents)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

29. Out to Siblings (family, coming out, support, trans loss, transition stories)

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

30. Out to Siblings 2 (anxiety, family, coming out, support, trans loss, transition stories)


We want to hear about your reactions to the stories! We want to hear from everyone, but are especially interested in responses from trans and queer folks. In the Comments section below, tell us a bit about yourself (whatever you are comfortable sharing, such as your age, gender, sexuality, where you live, etc.), what the storyteller shared, and how it resonated with you. Comments are moderated and are posted once approved.