Unique

I am not unique. The idea of a transfem developer that plays Minecraft coming to their identity relatively late in life is such a common stereotype on the trans forums that I'm on that it's hilarious how much I've boxed myself into it. Add that to the number of ace people that seem to be autistic on similar forums and some days I feel like a walking stereotype. But even if that was my entire story, that those descriptors were all I had to share with people, I believe there'd still be a unique value to my voice and an impact I can have among the thousands of others with the same experiences.

This is a view I've held as long as I can remember, and one I hold close, especially when talking to someone I disagree with or who is hurting in some way. The impact we have on the world isn't just an amalgamation of the experiences we have, and those experiences aren't the only things that make us unique. Stereotypes exist for a reason, and while they rarely fit any one person when you get to know them well enough, the idea behind them is that they show that there are shared experiences and forms of expression that are common enough in populations to be noticed. Though it is fair to say that the more commonly mentioned stereotypes are mentioned out of spite. Those shared experiences may end up feeling like a broken record to some when everyone is sharing their life story about how they grew up with X Y and Z happening to them, or without enough of Q, but the idea that I hold is that the reach of those ideas, and the nuance that a person holds on their own, is just as valuable as a novel experience.

It's not necessarily that the person holds an entirely unique perspective on the experiences they've had, or that they can say them in a new way, but they have a unique reach. They have their own group of people, their own clique that will listen to what they have to say and their own voice that can add to what has already been said. These things will of course overlap with other voices, and sometimes they won't make much impact on the grand scheme. But what impact they do make will matter to someone. Every voice matters somewhere, every voice clicks with someone, and every voice matters even if it's only to the person speaking.

Some voices do have nuance to add, and they'd never know until they start talking. A person often never knows that they're good at something until they try. So encouraging people to write, to share, to feel safe talking and being open about what they've done or been through even if it's "the same as everyone else" is important. Nothing is not worth talking about.