In lieu of throwing up my defenses, I invite you to consider [my own story](https://medium.com/@normvjulian/out-of-the-gray-1af9c4378c9b).

I laud the effort to invite others to accept and to exist and to just be, no matter their physical form. I have little doubt that I could have done so for the rest of my life, to some degree or another. But I have also lived an experience that suggests there is something deeper going on, chemically, and that freedom comes in many forms.