I'm A Girl (2023) is a 5-minute digital video that features me at four years old, trying to desperately convince my family that I'm a girl, despite their resistance. The video is edited from a videocassette filmed by my Abuelita in her Columbus, Ohio, garden, with subtitles added for clarity and my deadname censored. I witnessed all the joy fade from my little childhood face, from innocently requesting to put makeup on for her picture to be taken, to being told by her Grandmother and Father that she’s not a girl and to stop pretending. I cried for her the first time I watched; I cried harder than I've cried in a long time. My life could have been so different if they had just believed me. This video confronts the harsh reality that trans children face when trying to express their true selves.
