I only found out 4 years ago, and with it the fact, that there is a word for how I feel.

Hand holding a piece of paper with a simple drawing of a circle, two dots labeled girl and boy, and handwritten notes explaining "Oha = she, oh = he, oh-a = they" with a note "single".

Person with arm tattoos writing on a notepad, sitting on a sofa with two dogs nearby, and a smartphone placed on the sofa.

A woman with tattoos, wearing a pink embroidered dress, standing in a bedroom with unmade beds and posters on the wall.

A neatly made bed with white sheets, a wooden headboard decorated with various stickers, a large crumpled pillow, and a small bedside table with a drawer, all in a bedroom with a white wall.

“I don't feel like the woman I was labeled at birth.

I am not a woman, I do not fulfil the idea of a woman in today's society. Also, I can't stand it when people only look at me from the masculine side, sometimes I present myself in a very feminine way, wearing dresses and makeup and stuff.

Ever since I was about five years old I've wanted to be more boyish, but not really a boy. Personally, I've never had a problem with my body, unlike most transgender people and their stories. I was happy with my body, there was just something that didn't quite fit.

Luckily, my upbringing was gender neutral, so I could wear whatever I wanted. That helped a little, but not completely, because I didn't discover I was non-binary or trans anyway until 4 years ago, and I also discovered that there is a word for how I feel.”

“I'll draw it for you: There are two binary genders girl/boy.The non-binary ones can be anywhere in between or even outside. I don't feel like either boy or girl, anywhere in between or a combination of both. I always say my gender is floating around somewhere, but I feel its presence.

For some of us, it was never like being born in the wrong body. And I'd like to emphasise that for binary trans people as well. Rather, it's that our bodies don't look quite the way we imagined. Often we only want to change it partially to feel more in our own skin. Actually, it's inappropriate to say that someone was born in the wrong body. We don't have to hate it.

There is a term dysmorphia that is used for cisgender people. For example, a woman labeled after giving birth as not liking her breasts and therefore, say, getting new breasts and feeling better.

We encounter the word dysphoria in the context of trans people, and it means that the person feels like some part of their body doesn't belong to them at all.”

Black and white photograph of a tattooed woman sitting on a bed, looking to her left, in a dimly lit room.

Black and white photo of a tattooed person sitting on a bed, looking to the left, with a pillow and wall stickers visible in the background.

We have cancer in our family, so it was a lot easier for me to have my breasts and uterus removed. I knew from the age of seven that I didn't want to have kids. In fact, I always wanted to have my uterus removed. I didn't want it inside me. Also because I'm trans and I don't want to have a period.

I loved my breasts. I loved the way they looked on my body and the way they made me look. But the more tissue I had removed, the safer it was for me.

I felt total relief! It was the best feeling when I woke up after my hysterectomy (removal of my uterus). I still have my ovaries though, they are also at risk for cancer, but I don't want to take hormones or drugs tested on animals.

It was an instant relief. Also, when my breasts were removed, I felt good about it. I used to have constant back, lower back and cervical spine pain because of them.

Since I found out I was non-binary, I joined the non-profit and volunteer organization TransAkcija in Ljubljana.

A person with tattoos, sitting on a bed with their legs crossed, hands clasped, dressed in a T-shirt, and surrounded by various tattoos on their arms and legs.

Many cultures know more than just two genders; in fact, you could say that colonization has erased all that and simplified the gender divide into the basic two.

The unfortunate thing is that white culture has suppressed everything that is not its own, and yet it has always been there, especially in other cultures. For example, the "Hijra" in India - a child who is labeled a boy at birth, in our society would be labeled a trans woman. Such children are believed to be blessed and bring good luck. However, they live on the margins of society.

Native American tribes, on the other hand, know "two-spirit". These influences, of course, permeate music and culture.

Do you have any tattoos that are trans related?

I had a problem with the word queer because I'm attracted to mostly cis men. I never really identified with it, so I got it tattooed just to get used to it.

Here this is in support of my sisters! It says "Not Just Sisters" and is very important to me. I got it tattooed after my girlfriend broke up with me. It means: respect, protect and always support trans women no matter what. I got my vegan tattoo because I've been vegan for 10 years and I'm never going to change that.

Are you getting a chest tattoo?

I wanted a chest tattoo, but I ended up getting an autograph that I got a tattoo from trans singer Laura Jane Grace of Against me! So I started collecting more smaller things.

Have you thought about getting a tattoo to cover the scars?

No, I like the scars, I don't think I'll ever get a tattoo just because of the way they look, just because of the design of the tattoo.

How did you actually experience the pain while you were tattooing when you had constant back and spine pain?

At first, I didn't feel the pain at all.

My tattoos do express and have a transgender theme, but they certainly don't express how I really feel about my gender. I have a lot of them because I want to remember some unique moments, but I also have other tattoos for other reasons.