Sam Dylan Finch

Sam Dylan Finch

Bio

  Sam Dylan Finch is a transgender writer and queer activist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He currently works as a Feature Writer and Social Media Associate at Everyday Feminism, and manages a magical blog called Let's Queer Things Up!. He can't stop talking about queer politics, body image, mental health, and pop culture. Find him on Twitter and Facebook so you can be best friends forever.

Sam Dylan Finch Articles

This is the first step toward closure.

Maybe There’s No Such Thing as Closure

I’ve heard a lot about this magical thing called “closure.” It sounds really great. My understanding of it is that, as time goes on, this person from the past becomes so distant that you no longer feel an emotional attachment. New romances fill the void left in your heart, and eventually this person who was once so significant suddenly becomes a blip on the screen.

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For years, I didn’t know I was hearing voices. Image: Thinkstock.

When Your Abuser Isn't Real

For years, I didn’t know I was hearing voices. When it started to happen, it felt like someone else’s thoughts were being inserted into my mind, shouting at me, undermining my reality — impossible to control.

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The reality is that no one deserves to do this alone.

Listen: I Don't Care If You're A Burden. If You Need Help, Ask For It.

I used to be the one that pushed everyone away out of fear that I was too demanding or too toxic or “too much.” But I’m finally at a place in my life where I understand just how important it is to lean on your support system — and so I’m committed to not running away anymore.

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Image: Dane Schnittman/The Outlaws Photo Project.

I’m Transgender And I Need Body Positivity Too

This is fancy talk for “holy shit, I cannot make peace with my body today or ever, because this body is telling the world I’m a woman when I’m actually not.”

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Hey, baby.

I Read Dinosaur Erotica And I Have So Many Feelings

Imagine a scenario in which these highly-evolved dinosaurs, instead of destroying an entire village and kidnapping women (SNORE), were actually gentle giants that brought sexual liberation to a village of patriarchal, shitty human beings.

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It’s like a care package, only you assemble it for yourself and open it up when you’re having a bad day. Image: Annie Spratt/Unsplash.

3 Mental Health Hacks Everyone Should Know About

Everyone, whether they have a mental illness or not, knows what it’s like to be in total despair and have no idea what to do about it. You’re curled up in bed, you don’t want to move, and you desperately wish you knew how to make things better.

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I didn’t understand how serious you were until they told me. Now I know that my life will never be the same. Image: Stock.io/Andrew Weber

An Open Letter To My Bipolar Disorder

You were on the back burner — I thought you were Type 2, manageable, no big deal — which goes to show just how deeply I’d slid into denial. But there’s no denial here anymore. Just statistics and medical terms floating around in my brain, reminding me that I can’t afford to forget you, that you’re too “severe” for that.

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It’s not just him — it’s me.

Gay Men Are Hitting On Me Now — And I'm Terrified

Dating while trans is scary, especially when you’re starting to “pass.” What are his expectations for my body, if any, and what if I’m not what he had in mind and he rejects me outright?

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Sam Dylan Finch.

Testosterone And Tea With Sam Dylan Finch: Week 1

Have you ever lived somewhere and thought to yourself, “I’m not home yet”? That’s what my body has felt like the last 24 years of my life — a mere point in time; a temporary condition. Looking in the mirror was the equivalent of sleeping in a stranger’s bed. I felt like a visitor in my own body.

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“You will only be happy if you ‘get rid of’ your illness.”

6 Totally Awful Lies That Mental Illness Told Me

I used to think that I would only be happy if I came as close to being “neurotypical” as possible. I thought that I needed to be cured to live a whole, fulfilling life (which is one of the downsides of the medicalization of our struggles, but that’s a story for another day).

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