Gender Euphoria

by Laura Kate Dale

We first met through Pokémon X and Y, a week after its release. We’d play together whenever we had a break from studying. A month later we met for the first time outside of sixth form for our first Pokémon tournament, ready and willing to face each other and duke it out for the crown. There he asked me out by nicknaming his team of six creatures to spell out a romantic message. We both lost the tournament, but took home something far, far more important.

Earlier that year, before I was out as a trans woman, someone introduced me to a girl who straight up told me: ‘Holy crap, you are exactly my type. If I weren’t a lesbian, we would totally hook up,’ which left me delighted. I met her that day at the film festival, and the first thing she told me? ‘Fuck, yeah, I knew it. You look really hot.’

People tend to take names of significance when choosing something personal. (I imagine there’s a Buffy fan named Willow grimacing right now.)