Predstavte si, že sa narodíte do ženského tela. Ale neviete si akosi zvyknúť na svoju podobu. Nie ste stotožnená so svojimi prsiami, telom ani samotnou menštruáciou. Neviete, čo sa deje, no tušíte, že niečo nie je v poriadku. A potom to pochopíte. Viete, že by vám bolo lepšie v mužskom tele. Poviete to rodičom. A oni vás za to odvrhnú. Presne to sa stalo 24-ročnému Alexandrovi Colterovi z Denveru, ktorý pred štyrmi rokmi podstúpil zmenu pohlavia.

Nikto z nás nemá možnosť vybrať si telo, do ktorého sa narodí. Možno je v tom aj určitá spravodlivosť. Veď keby to bolo v našich rukách, po svete by chodili len fyzicky dokonalé bytosti. Ani Sasha, Alexandrove bývalé ja, si sama nevybrala, že sa chce narodiť ako žena. Jednoducho sa to stalo. A napriek tomu, že v ženskom tele strávila viac ako 20 rokov, nevedela si naň zvyknúť.

Pre rodinu to bol úder pod pás

I recently heard someone at the gym tell another, "You will fail. I want you to know before you try." I was shocked. You don't wake up to fail. You don't get out of bed in the morning to look yourself in the mirror and ask if you're ready for another day of failures. You don't walk into work, punch in and pump yourself up for a day set up to fail. That is no life to live. I set my weights down, walked over to the highly discouraged man with an awful friend/trainer and told him something my high school track coach told me, "You only fail when you stop trying. Keep your head up and remember why you started." Life isn't easy. Setting goals isn't easy. The harder you grind, the harder things get. But you also get tougher. And you get stronger. And you are able to mentally challenge yourself and grow in ways you wouldn't otherwise be given the opportunity. Keep pushing forward.

A post shared by Colter Alexander (@coltarmstrongfitness) on Sep 17, 2017 at 7:20am PDT

Keďže Alexander pochádza z tradičnej rodiny, pre jeho rodičov bolo jeho priznanie neskutočný šok. Nevedeli to pochopiť a dodnes sa len zriedkakedy stretávajú. Sú presvedčení, že postupovať taký veľký zásah do tela je úplne zbytočné. Nechápu svet svojej dcéry, napriek tomu, že je v novom tele šťastná.

Kedysi bol Sasha. Na prvý pohľad úplne normálne dievčatko

I had to get together some pictures of my transition for an article and it was really humbling this morning to wake up and be able to look at how far I've come over the last (nearly) 25 years. Life has been a rollercoaster with many wrecks along the way, but life is about pushing yourself. If you don't do the things that scare you, you will never grow, never change and never be happy. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Already reached your goals? Aim higher- prove to yourself you can be better. Feeling stagnant at your job? Aim higher- get yourself out there and find coworkers you vibe with and a job that doesn't totally stress you out. Wishing your relationships were functioning different? Aim higher- talk to those people and make things right. If you can't, at least you tried ☝🏼 You don't have time for that kind of negativity in your life. Keep people around who help lift you up, not hold you down. I promise, your world will change so much ❤️ 🌎

A post shared by Colter Alexander (@coltarmstrongfitness) on Sep 8, 2017 at 7:13am PDT

Ako 20-ročný sa obrátil na doktorov, ktorí mu začali aplikovať testosterónovú liečbu. Pre jeho telo to bola neskutočná záťaž, kolísala mu psychika, no Alexander tvrdí, že to stálo za to

The more nazis that come out of the woodworks, the harder I push myself. Leg day killed my hamstring and I did a kickboxing course to make sure I could still roll heads when the time comes ☠️😎 Woke up in a bad mood because I had to call off work because my car is a piece of shit forever and always, but remembering to breathe and live in the moment because even the next hour is not promised. That being said, if anyone in the springs wants to craft/smoke/make music/watch movies, let me know because I'm stranded at the apartment 🤙🏼 #teamzsf #ZacSmithFitness @zacsmithfitness

A post shared by Colter Alexander (@coltarmstrongfitness) on Aug 20, 2017 at 1:05pm PDT

Len pár mesiacov po začatí liečby stretol svoju manželku. Práve tá mu je obrovskou oporou

Let me smell the moon in your perfume 🌙🎼

A post shared by Colter Alexander (@coltarmstrongfitness) on Sep 5, 2017 at 7:36pm PDT

Prvú operáciu podstúpil pred štyrmi rokmi. Na Instagrame môžeme sledovať jeho cestu za vyšportovaným mužským telom

Good morning, anyone weird enough to follow this always side-tracked mind of mine 🤙🏼 we went to sleep a little late last night watching Indian In the Cupboard, so I slept until 6 this morning. Going to try and do some yoga today (hopefully) to stretch out my back after going hard with @graysonpapp in the gym yesterday. Getting in a good run with the pups, some abs, triceps, meal prepping, then down to Denver for a work meeting, followed by dinner at Sputnik to test their vegan menu 👌🏼 It's important for me to keep a full schedule to keep my mind off of my anxiety and not get caught up on things that make my blood boil. The gym is an awesome outlet for anger in the moment, but I have had some difficulty reaching the point of exhaustion that's keeps it at bay. My irritability has skyrocketed lately, but I've acquired some new coping skills that I'm hoping do the trick 🙃 Y'all, get out and enjoy today 👉🏼 start putting your mind & body first 🍌🍉🍒🥑 be good to your temple.. Remember, it's your home for the rest of your life 💪🏼

A post shared by Colter Alexander (@coltarmstrongfitness) on Aug 31, 2017 at 6:22am PDT

Ak chce vyzerať ako muž, musí naozaj makať. Pravidelne jazdí do fitnesscentra vzdialeného dve hodiny cesty. Pomáha mu pevná vôľa

“Because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” -Michael Jordan If you would've told me one year ago that I'd have trouble fitting into men's smalls, I probably would've kicked your shins and ran away 😂 Real talk, I'm 5 feet tall, have never been able to keep on weight due to intestinal disease, and have always been the short one in every group who has to climb/crawl to rescue after dumb choices (and will forever be 😎🤙🏼). You know what's wrong with that though? NEVER. I've been on this fitness journey for nearly 3 years now and always thought my body just won't allow me to bulk. I gave into never and that is the worst thing you can do for yourself in any situation in life. I am 2 weeks into my new program with @zacsmithfitness and it may not seem like a lot, but I'm 3 pounds up. I got super sick at the beginning of the year and lost nearly 25 pounds. I've been able to pack muscle on, but I've just been able to tone and not actually gain mass. 3 pounds is more than I've been able to gain in over 1.5 years. With the right diet, mental state, workout routines and pent up anger from politics and internet turds pushing me harder, I'm determined to show all the naysayers the beast they woke 😈 #teamzsf #zacsmithfitness

A post shared by Colter Alexander (@coltarmstrongfitness) on Aug 21, 2017 at 7:04pm PDT

Naberanie svalstva ho však stojí oveľa viac energie, než ostatných. Predsa len, geneticky stále ostáva ženou

The stages of flexing. I need to stretch out this shoulder of mine so it stops getting stuck 👌🏼

A post shared by Colter Alexander (@coltarmstrongfitness) on Sep 22, 2017 at 7:23am PDT

Stal sa úplným vegánom. Chce dokázať, že na to, aby ste si vypracovali svaly, nepotrebujete konzumovať mäso

Fall is here and my soul is starting to breathe again #lostboy

A post shared by Colter Alexander (@coltarmstrongfitness) on Sep 21, 2017 at 12:48pm PDT

Jednou z najťažších vecí bola premena pŕs. Tie si formoval špeciálnou páskou. Zažíval však časy, keď ho desil každý pohľad do zrkadla

Sorry @ everyone who told me not to cut my hair.

A post shared by Colter Alexander (@coltarmstrongfitness) on Aug 8, 2017 at 6:04pm PDT

Hello, abs, my old friends. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• I let my diet slip pretty hard for vegan donuts and other treats this last week, but I'm on the up and up eating clean again (and probably never want donuts again……unless they're 🍎 cider donuts). #thisiswhattranslookslike #transisbeautiful #bodybuilding #bodybuilder #transbodybuilder #growth #gains #vegan #eatclean #transandinked #instagood #lgbtq #trans #transman #ftm #gay #gayboy

A post shared by Colter Alexander (@coltarmstrongfitness) on Sep 8, 2017 at 6:27pm PDT

Tvrdí, že je konečne šťastný. V skutočnosti ho motivujú každé tvrdé vyjadrenia hejterov, ktorých je viac než dosť

Chest/triceps is slowly becoming my favorite day. It's always the start of a new week and it's probably my workout I feel most pumped after 😏 my workouts have been good this last week, but I haven't felt a pump like this in a minute. Only going 👆🏼 from here

A post shared by Colter Alexander (@coltarmstrongfitness) on Aug 29, 2017 at 3:11pm PDT

Alexander si išiel za svojím šťastím. Napriek chorobnej úzkosti a odsudzovaní vlastnej rodiny. Je príkladom toho, že kde je vôľa, tam je aj cesta. A čo si o nás myslia ostatní? Vždy nájdeme dostatok ľudí, ktorí s nami nebudú súhlasiť. Avšak to je len ich problém, nie váš.

Pozri aj: Je dievča, no aj napriek tomu musí chodiť na mužské záchody. Fotografia transgender dievčatka vyjadruje silný protest proti novému zákonu

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