I Gave Up Beauty to Be Me

To the world, I was conventionally attractive. Then I transitioned.

A photo of me in 2016, shortly before I came out as nonbinary.

This piece contains discussion of eating disorders, weight, body image, and gender dysphoria.

It was the first day of spring semester, and my friend Soyeon and I were catching up over lunch, trading stories of what we’d been up to over winter break. As the conversation hit a lull…