My Name is Lizbeth

Pride- and Trans-Flags

We change throughout our entire lives. We grow, learn new things, learn about ourselves, and come to know who we are. As I have written before, my path to myself was a long one. Not even knowing what it was about yourself that felt wrong and then slowly beginning to recognize yourself, I think that is a fascinating journey.

At the beginning of my journey, I placed myself in the group of people who are nonbinary. “Nonbinary” is one of several terms for people who do not feel that they belong to either one gender or the other. There were several reasons for that, but I will come back to those another time.

By now, I have arrived. I feel like a woman, and I see myself as a woman. My challenge is simply that I have a male body, but life does not always give you what you would like to have. Still, that is okay. I can enjoy life this way too. And more and more often, other people see me as a woman as well, and that feels really good.

Being a woman also includes the name. A few years ago, I already decided that my feminine side would be called Lizbeth. Why? The short answer is that I like the name. And if you get to choose your own name, then it should be one that feels good to you, right? Another aspect is that I do not personally know anyone with that name, so I do not have any other associations attached to it. I can simply call that name mine, and that is something that feels good to me.

Do I still respond when someone calls me by my old name? Yes, of course. It is deeply rooted in me. Will I explain it to people? Yes. It is simply nicer to be addressed by the correct name, isn’t it? ;-)

My name is Lizbeth. And I am happy.

Yours, Lizbeth

P.S. My pronouns are she/her. ;-)