Transgender Bleeds In Public To Show Periods Are ‘Not Just For Women’ [PHOTOS]
A TRANSGENDER artist has attracted attention online after posting an image showing themselves “free bleeding” in public.
For those who assume they know the basics about menstruation — that women get their periods and guys don’t — one artist is proving an important point with a powerful Instagram photo.
Cass Clemmer, the creator of the period-themed coloring book The Adventures of Toni the Tampon, posted a photo depicting a period stain while holding a sign that reads: “Periods are not just for women. #BleedingWhileTrans.”
The comments underneath the photo are sadly mixed, with some people offering support and gratitude, while others unfortunately have chosen to leave hurtful and ignorant messages. Luckily, it doesn’t seem as though that negativity will be stopping Clemmer anytime soon.
Cass is a menstrual health activist and hopes that this raw post will raise awareness for the transgender experience. “Periods are honestly pretty traumatic for me,” Cass wrote in a poem posted with the photo. “See my life is very clearly marked, Like a red border cut up a nation, A time before and a time beyond, The mark of my first menstruation.”
Since posting this moving post, Cass said the hardest part has been the influx of people telling them they should kill themselves. Yet despite already having a history of attempted suicide because of transphopia and these new negative messages, Cass told POPSUGAR that they don’t regret posting their struggle for all to see:
“I honestly thought it would be better for me to be dead than live my life as transgender. The point of all this being that THAT is what keeps me going and why I do the work I do. I survived out of sheer luck, and I have since made a promise to myself to spend every moment that I am alive fighting for a better world than the one that made me hate who I am so much that I wanted to kill myself.
Trans youth have a higher than average rate of suicide, and if me being able to share my story helps just one person remember that they are not alone and they are loved — that alone is worth all the transphobia and death threats in the world.”
Article Sources: Daily Mail Popsugar
Photo Credit: ToniTheTampon/Instagram