SERVALSTRIPE SPEAKS: NOT RIGHT

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My name is Servalstripe. And I'm not a she-cat. Or a tom. Well, genetically, I am a tom. But I'm actually neither. I'm nonbinary. I know, you're probably super confused. What is that? What do you mean? What are you talking about? 

Well, I'm going to start from the start:

When I was a kit, I was a tom. Plain and simple. My brother Tigerstripes was super masculine and buff and awesome, while I was just a tom. Nothing else to it. 

But I didn't feel like a tom. It didn't feel right. It felt... incorrect. I thought maybe that I thought of myself as a she-cat. Like I was born in the wrong body. 

When I was an apprentice, I told Tigerpaw I felt this way. That I couldn't live up to the masculine picture. That I didn't feel like a tom. That I felt like a she-cat. He accepted me. 

But I didn't actually feel like a she-cat. It was... more right. It felt better. But still not right. I searched and searched, going back and fourth, but I really just couldn't scratch it with my claws! I kept looking for what I might be. 

A tom? That was my assigned gender at birth. When Pearnose and Rainstorm saw me, they said "It's a tom". 

A she? It felt more natural. More right. More... correct. Being a tom wasn't me. But being a she felt a lot more like me. 

None of the above...? That felt right. I didn't feel like a didn't have a gender. I felt like... it wasn't male or female. Just... Nonbinary. 

Exactly. 

Nonbinary. 

I'd like cats to stop calling me a tom. I'd like them to stop saying "he". I'd like them to start saying "they". 

That was announcement that generally solidified it. And once it did, I felt right. 

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