How to Tell A Trans Person They Are Beautiful

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• Don’t do it right after I disclose to you that I am trans and you thought I was cis
• Don’t do it with a condition that I shouldn’t change my body
• Don’t expect me to believe you because I won’t and I can’t
• There’s too many messages throughout the day that tell me:
• That my voice isn’t pretty
• That girls with facial hair are ugly
• That my junk disgusts them
• Tell me I’m beautiful
•  and I’ll politely say thank you
• Tell me I’m beautiful again 
• and I’ll say I know
• But I still can’t feel it. It only goes skin deep
• Tell me that I am beautiful
• I always have been and always will be
• Say it so much that I can’t brush it off
• Say it with enough conviction that the next time I see myself naked that the words "You are beautiful" are tattooed across my flat chest
• Catch me by surprise:
• Tell me I’m beautiful when I’m not expecting you to
• When I’m not trying to be anything but myself
• Don’t tell me I’m beautiful because I’m passing as something I’m not
• Tell me because I am who I am whether I like it or not
• Let me know that I am beautiful no matter what