It’s A Boy/Girl Thing

(I was volunteering for a camp for little kids. I am genderfluid, but around this time, I am still trying to figure out my gender and am presenting as male. I am having a lot of fun messing with the kids.)

Kid #1: “Are you a boy or a girl?”

Kid #2: “I think she’s a boy.”

Me: “SHE’S a BOY?”

Kid #1: “But your socks are pink!”

Me: “The color of my socks have nothing to do with whether I’m a boy or a girl.”

Kid #3: “No, he’s a boy. His name is [My Gender-Neutral Name]. That’s a boy’s name.”

Me: “That can be a name for a boy or a girl.”

Kid #4: “I have a friend with that name and she’s a girl.”

Kid #1: “So you’re a girl!”

Me: “I never said that.”

(Later, the two kids who are still debating my gender bring it up again.)

Kid #1: “Why won’t you tell us whether you’re a girl or a boy?”

Kid #2: “Yeah, tell us!”

Kid #1: “Wait, are you one of those people who’s born a boy and feels like a girl? Or born a girl and feels like a boy?”

Me: *stunned* “Yeah, that’s me.”

Kid #1: “Are you going to get surgery so you can be who you are inside?”

Me: “Yeah, I… don’t really think I’m ready for that.

Kid #1: “Okay!”

(They stopped asking whether I was a boy or a girl and I passed as a guy for the rest of my time at that camp. Kids know a lot more than people give them credit for, although I’m definitely not planning on getting surgery!)