Member-only story
I will not stay in my lane
Being told to stay in my lane felt like a slap in the face, especially when the person saying it was a woman. It was tot for the first time since I completed my doctorate have I received a sustained attack on my credentials, but it happened in a space where I typically feel safe and let my guard down. Gender critics have deconstructed me over the last five years to the point where there is a small subset of memes which do the rounds whenever I make a post, so for this most recent incident to happen in a purportedly trans inclusive space was a shock to the system.
To be clear, I am rarely proud of anything I have accomplished. There will always be people who know more, have experienced more, and lived more than me, so for me to take pride in something takes a lot. Gaining my doctorate from a top UK law school is one of those few things, especially given what it took to get there. For those who have followed my work over the last six years on Medium you will know that this pride was not born out of a sense of self-entitlement, rather, it comes from a sense that I have achieved a personal goal irrespective of what anyone else has done. I did this for me, and in turn try to use my skills to help others where I can. To be told to stay in my lane when I use that expertise hurts on a fundamental level.
