?

-I thought this story was compelling for the simple fact that people like “Janet Mock” are living their day to day just like the rest of us but never reveal their true story out of fear of being bashed and critiqued, so i ask?does it matter??Should your opinion or love and respect for a person change once they reveal such a secret like their true gender? read her story below:

Janet Mock, People.com Editor Reveals She Is Transgender

People.com editor and popular blogger Janet Mock revealed some shocking information in her interview with Marie Claire Magazine.

The 28-year-old editor opened up to the publication and admitted that she is transgender, and was in fact born a boy.

Mock tells Marie Claire:

“Once, when I was 5-years-old, a little girl who lived next door to my grandmother dared me to put on a muumuu and run across a nearby parking lot. So I did.

I threw it on, hiked it up in one hand, and ran like hell. It felt amazing to be in a dress. But suddenly my grandmother appeared, a look of horror on her face.

I knew immediately that I had crossed some kind of line.

While on these hormones, I lost my virginity at age 17 to a guy I met while I was working at a boutique.

He knew my background but said he didn’t care. Even though I trusted him, I couldn’t relax and insisted on keeping the lights off.”

The writer spoke openly about her upbringing in Honolulu, Hawaii, and life as a transgender, but also told her story on her own website:

?As puberty began to hit in middle school, my body began to change, betraying Janet.

It was difficult living in a body that did not reflect me at my best self, and it became the central drama of my first 18 years.

During the eighth grade, I began incorporating cosmetics (Lipsmackers, Wet N Wild eyeliner, CoverGirl compacts) into my beauty regimen.

I was teased, taunted and targeted for this gender variance, but my accomplishments and involvement in school soon overshadowed my non-conformity.

By freshman year, I was dressing as my female self and was soon known as Janet through the halls of my high school in Kalihi, a tough part of Honolulu.

But writing about famous people only allowed me to express a minutiae of my talents. My wakeup call to a higher purpose came in the fall of 2010.

It was apparent that being different (whether you were gay or transgender, overweight or rail-thin, dark or albino) was a matter of life or death.

I knew that writing my memoir Fish Food in silence was no longer an option. I had to speak up.?

?

Read more about Janet Mock’s transgender story here.