"I felt validated when people stated I was exceptional or unique or that I was not the norm. Basking..."

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I felt validated when people stated I was exceptional or unique or that I was not the norm. Basking in these proclamations, I soon realized something was amiss: If I’m the exception, the so-called standard of success, then where does that leave the sisters I grew up with on the streets of Honolulu who didn’t ‘make it’?

Being exceptional isn’t revolutionary, it’s lonely. It separates you from your community. Who are you, really, without community? I have been held up consistently as a token, as the ‘right’ kind of trans woman (educated, able-bodied, attractive, articulate, heteronormative). It promotes the delusion that because I ‘made it,’ that level of success is easily accessible to all young trans women. Let’s be clear: It is not.

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- Janet Mock, Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More. (via queerbookclub)