Visible

Frankie had been transitioning for the last ten years. He’d been openly closeted for the last eight. Nearly everyone, his father included, weren’t accepting of him. In many ways, he no longer cared. He remembered what his mother, Olivia, would’ve said. It was something he thought about often. He lived his life as happily as he could. Her death when he was a teenager left him feeling unwanted. People weren’t sure how to be around him. He kept to himself as a result. Life in the town he’d grown up in hadn't changed much. Aside from construction from the increase in population. Snowbirds moving south permanently instead of for the winter. Frankie had moved to South Florida for a few years. His dads marriage to a woman he had no business marrying changed his life. In good as well as bad ways. One of the few good ways being he met people that helped him find himself. He’d found solace while roaming around in Miami Beach. 

He’d roam around Miami Beach in search of jobs. In search of himself as well. He’d wandered around the quieter parts of the area. The neighborhoods that went from fifth street behind the Publix and Target up to seventeenth street. Blocks away from Ocean Ave. He found beautiful houses there. Places he saw himself living in if he were ever able to move there instead of living in Hollywood with a friend. He’d struggled with finding a job. People saw his lack of experience and didn’t want to take a chance on him. They didn’t want to take the time to train him. Dishwashing was the only thing he wanted to do for the time being. It was the introvert in him that wanted a job out of sight while still helping people. Until he’d chosen to speak out after coming out.  

Frankie began using his voice far more than ever before. He helped the youth in the area find their voice. He helped them see it gets better. They were heartbroken when he let them know he was moving back to the town he’d grown up in. That his time there, for the time being, was finished. Jackson had finally divorced Addie. Her Narcissistic behavior wasn’t something he could be around anymore. Comments she made that were inexcusable. Comments toward Olivia's family (Frankie’s maternal family) and essentially Jackson out for wanting to go back home for a funeral. He had enough by that point. So he told Frankie it was time to leave. 

Frankies life hadn’t been what he’d hoped for since moving home. Things had gotten worse in some ways. Jackson began showing signs of Dementia. Not taking care of himself didn’t help. He’d distanced himself from everyone he knew would. never love him as himself. He helped youth in the area much like he had in Miami Beach. He’d become outspoken as well. He no longer cared what anyone thought. He was going to be visible for those that couldn’t be. The conversation with Jackson hadn’t gone so well. Frankie realized he was just like everyone else. Someone who’d never love him as himself. A confrontational argument left Frankie homeless. He moved back to Miami Beach by that weekend. 

He let his actions speak for him. He’d become an Activist in the days and weeks after moving back to Miami Beach. He’d reunited with the friends he’d left behind. He’d no longer felt the need to be closeted. He’d become an openly Transgender Man. His story touched others. It inspired many. He wanted to write about his life. About the experiences he’d lived through. He’d reached out to various Newspapers as well as Magazines hoping one of them would want to collaborate with him. All of them accepted various pieces he submitted. He’d become a Columnist for a local Newspaper. LGBTQ+ issues, his story, and other aspects of his life being the main topics of his column. The studio overlooking the ocean had become his safe haven. It was a place of his own he thought he’d never have. He was finally living the life he’d wanted. He spoke at various events in the South Florida area when he wasn’t writing.