My Own Private Carolina (Part 1)

After the movie, I suggested dinner and Christina appeared delighted by the idea. We picked out a booth at a little diner near my hotel. During dinner we began an in-depth conversation. As it happened, we shared a lot of similar experiences growing up. We both always struggled to fit in, found it difficult to make friends, and neither of us ever felt fully accepted by our peers or our family. We talked about everything. I was struck by how forthcoming and honest Christina was about her past and herself. We were so engrossed in talking that, before we knew it, it was closing time at the diner. “I don’t want to go home yet,” Christina said. “Well, you don’t have to,” I replied. “Come have a drink with me,” I suggested, hopefully. “I have a brand new bottle of bourbon in my hotel room.” She perked up at my suggestion. “I’d like that,” she said.

Christina sat down on the foot of the bed and kicked off her flip-flops. I grabbed the bottle from my suitcase and poured our drinks into paper cups. She seemed to be deep in thought. I sipped my drink, wondering if I’d said something wrong. “You OK?” I asked. She looked directly at me with her intense brown eyes. “I haven’t told you everything,” she said, “. . . about why I had a hard time growing up. Maybe it’s the booze, but you’re a good listener. And for some reason I want to open up to you. Can I tell you something really personal?” I felt slightly honored that she wanted to unburden herself to me, and it goes without saying that I was madly curious to hear what she had to say. “By all means,” I answered her. She then began to tell me a story that left me amazed and intrigued.

When she was born, she was not called Christina but Christian. She was, in fact, a completely physically normal boy. Despite being raised and treated as a boy, Christina never fit in with other boys, and always had a preference for more traditionally feminine things and activities. Her parents tried to force into the role of a male. This caused great alienation between her and her family.