They're everywhere. Gender non-conforming, gender diverse, gender variant people. From cisgender men wearing "man buns" to cisgender women dressing "dapper," gender ambiguity seems to be the hipster thing now - especially among the Hollywood elite. Hipster culture via gender expression may have been living outwardly on the fringe for quite some time, but it wasn't until about 2013 or so when gorgeous cis, hetero men my age like Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix became one with the love-it-or-hate-it "man bun" hairdo.

In 2015 Will Smith's son Jaden first stepped out publicly in a dress. Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt's daughter Shiloh prefers a more masculine look , and has been rumored to question her gender identity. And that's totally cool, but these kids are in a pretty safe liberal environment, living within a bubble of protection. Their parents can defend their choices and the accepting echo chamber of fandom devotees will be heard around the world. These people are mega stars. While that does open the flood gates for criticism of all sorts, it also gives them the pretty sure confidence in knowing that however they defend against the criticism, it will at least be heard - and maybe even tolerated - by the masses.

But what about gender creative people not living within that safe bubble? Like, for instance, my son and all the gender creative kids he has met through a playgroup that we founded and run. Like, for instance, those of us living in North Carolina right now - you know, the state that is notorious for its controversial "Bathroom Bill," a.k.a. HB2 , the most sweeping, anti-LGBTQ+ law in recent U.S. History; the law that says transgender people are only allowed to legally use the public bathroom/locker room/shower/changing facility that matches the biological sex they were assigned at birth. This bill also had the audacity to define biological sex as "the physical condition of being male or female, which is stated on a person's birth certificate." (Oops, too bad if you were born intersex. You aren't even included because our former governor didn't know you exist. I mean, there's .7% of you out there. If we base that on the 2014 census numbers, that means we have roughly 27,904 people that are born intersex per year. But hey, who's counting?)

I'm talking about trying to live an authentic life amidst the social climate in North Carolina, the state that was recently touted as not being a democracy anymore. In fact, in an article that has since gone viral, one writer pointed out that based on an electoral integrity report, our democracy was ranked on par with Cuba . But beyond the gerrymandering and the oppressive super majority Republican-led house, we have recently had discrimination legalized in our state.