He. She. Him. Her. These pronouns are used to define us as if who we are can just simply be defined in one syllable. How we act, look and even love is supposed to correlate with the pronoun you were given at birth. But what if you were given the wrong pronoun and told to act like a different person than who you are. What would you do then?

“I’m a male to a female transgender woman. Meaning I’m transitioning from male to female. Meaning I changed my name and doing all this stuff to be who I am supposed to be.” Dove, a student at West High School has been and is dealing with this first hand. From the age of seven Dove knew something was different about her and her body. “I tried tricking myself and trying to make myself feel more masculine. I used to think that I was gay, I didn’t ever think that I could be anything but a boy. I couldn’t be a boy anymore I needed to try and be the person that I felt like I was meant to be.”

19%. The percentage of transgender people who experienced violence or abuse from a family member. However, Dove was fortunate enough to not be part of the percentage. “My mom was very supportive because my mom has always supported me through everything. I never really had a problem with my family expect trying to get my dad to call me Dove and use she, her pronouns. But my dad realized that this was something I needed to do and he tried his hardest and he still is.”

Though Dove has a family that is standing behind her and her life choices, there are still some who feel the need to voice their opinion on the subject of Dove’s own body. “Ok, that your opinion.” replies Dove to the opinion, “But I know me, I know my body and I know that I don’t feel right in this body. How is it your right to tell me it’s a phase when I should know.”

Other times Dove has had to respond to some rude and disturbing questions like, “Why do you still look like a boy?” or “Do you still have your male genitalia?” When it comes do to it does it really even matter if someone is a he, she, him, her when at the end of the day were just humans. So why do people asks these meaningless and even degrading questions?

Dove says that “West has one of the biggest communities” that she has ever had the pleasure of working with. But that’s really rare to find. 32. The number of states where transgender individuals can still be fired or denied employment for their identity. However, Iowa is one of the 18 states that have clear laws protecting transgender people.

He. She. Him. Her. These pronouns may not define us at times but sometimes they can tell our story. Other times they may even restrict us. But are these words really doing the restrictions or is it the people who follow and believe them doing it. Dove and millions of others are fighting these restrictions, not just the ones on their bodies but the ones in the minds of others.