Women’s Running magazine made history with today’s issue, which marks the first time that a transgender woman was featured on the cover. Meet Amelia Gapin: runner, writer, and self-professed “cat lady.”
Gapin has been on hormones for the past three years. Recently, she has decided to undergo reassignment surgery. Throughout her transition, running has remained a constant in her life.
“Running helped me get through the mental and emotional struggles I went through while I was transitioning,” Gapin said in an interview with People magazine. “I was able to clear my head and approach things from a much better perspective. [Running] gave me a place to work through all of the external things, like dealing with other people, and how to approach coming out to people and how to explain,” she said. “And when conversations didn’t go well—I lost friends because of it—running was a nice outlet for getting out some of that frustration.”
It's a scary time to have any visibly, let alone visibility like this, but I refuse to hide myself or ever stop fighting for trans people
— Amelia Gapin (@EntirelyAmelia) June 13, 2016
Gapin also has a personal blog—Entirely Amelia—where she shares insights into her daily life, photos, and running times.
“Trans people are normal people and, really, that’s about all we ask for, to be treated like everyone else. Like humans. We don’t want special treatment,” she writes. “My hope is that if I can mix writing about running and trans issues here, in one place, my fellow runners can see we’re normal people and can get a glimpse into what our lives are like.”
