The Life Of Trans Phan

Religious doesn't mean Transphobic

"Why on earth do I have to go to church?!" I grumbled, walking quickly to keep up with my father as we entered the old church building. We had been arguing about this for weeks now and he had finally won the battle, bribing me with the new Fallout boy album if I went to church with him. He pushed the door open and tugged me inside.

"It'll be good for you, now be quiet and do as you're told," He instructed sharply.

"Good morning Mr. Lester," A cheerful teenage boy greeted us as we stepped inside the old brick building. He grinned at me and, despite my grumpy mood, I smiled back.

"Good morning Daniel," My father replied as I stood there making awkward eye contact with this incredibly attractive unknown stranger, "This is my son Philip, I finally dragged him to church, your method worked well!"

The boy, or Daniel I suppose his name is laughed at my dad's statement, "Well I'm glad it worked, it's a pleasure to have you here," He said to me happily.

"Thanks," I mumbled back.

"Tell you what Philip, why don't you stay here with Daniel for awhile before the service starts?" I looked up at him, eyes wide in shock, shaking my head ever so slightly. As nice as Daniel is, I'm far too socially awkward to be around him for too long! This is a terrible idea!

"What a wonderful idea! I'll take good care of him," Daniel laughed, waving goodbye to my father as he wondered over to another group of people. As soon as my Dad was out of sight, Daniel turned to me, "Hey, breathe, I'm not going to murder you,"

"Sorry," I muttered nervously, leaning against the wall.

"It's okay. So, do you prefer Phil or Philip?"

___

We talked for about thirty minutes, chatting and laughing like we were best friends. I learned that his Dad was the pastor of the church and that Dan wanted to be the pastor when he grew up. As much as I don't believe in God, it was really interesting to see how much Dan loves him. I thought he would judge me when I said I wasn't a Christian, but he just grinned at me and said that that's cool too. We sat together during the service and he explained what was going on and made me actually take part, which I would have been annoyed about, but his smile made it completely worth it.

At the end of church, we swapped phone numbers and he made me promise I'd come back next week, a fact that made my Dad ecstatic.

___

Dan: Hey, are you busy?

Phil: Not really, what's up?

Dan: Can I come over?

Phil: Sure!

Dan: Thanks Phil, I'll be there in five :)

Looking up from my phone, I saw my Dad entering the room. He looked especially happy about something - God know's what.

"Dad? Dan's coming over in a few minutes, is that okay?" He asked, pausing the episode of Doctor Who he was watching.

"Yes of course, Philip, that's actually what I came to talk to you about - Dan's father has offered to have you for dinner tomorrow night. Would you like to go?"

"Of course! Thanks, Dad!" Phil exclaimed happily, jumping off the sofa and giving his Dad a quick hug before walking to his front door to wait for Dan.

Five minutes later a black car pulled up outside their house and Dan hopped out the car, dressed smartly in a white shirt and black jeans. His father parked the car and followed him, dressed in a similar outfit to his son.

"Hey, Dan!" Phil greeted happily, a big grin on his face. He didn't know why a pastor's son would make him so happy.

"Hi, Phil!" Dan replied, following Phil inside of the house. Their fathers shut the door and turned to them.

"Alright boys, go and play upstairs, we'll call you when we're done talking and then we'll have dinner, is that okay?" Dan's father instructed, not waiting for an answer before walking into the living room.

"Come on Dan, let's go to my room!" Phil said, running up the stairs. When they got into his room, however, Phil immediately knew he was screwed.

"Phil, what's that?" Dan asked, pointing to the needle laying on the floor. He had injected another dose of T this morning, but he knew it looked dodgy as fuck. His heart sank when he realised he'd left a few binders and even a packer laying on the floor. He was so utterly screwed.

"Um, it's nothing, don't worry," Phil rambled, quickly binning the needle.

"Is that a fake penis?" Dan asked, pointing at his packer. Phil paled and wished the floor would swallow him whole.

"No, that must be my brothers!" Phil exclaimed, tucking the packer into his draw and praying Dan wouldn't question anything.

"Phil, what's going on?" Dan asked hesitantly, trying to add it all up in his head. What was he hiding? Then his mind flickered back to something he had seen on Tumblr a few weeks back, "Oh Shit!"

"Wh- what?" Phil asked, sitting on his bed.

"You're transgender aren't you?" He asked, sitting next to Phil on the bed.

"What, no! Of course not!" Phil exclaimed, shocked.

"That's a packer, the needle was Testosterone and those vests are binders!" Dan said, putting two and two together.

"Please don't hate me," Phil mumbled, knowing there was no way out of this.

"Hate you? Why would I hate you?!" Dan asked, confused.

"Because you're a Christian and Christians hate transgender people!" Phil muttered, cursing himself for allowing Dan to find out. God, it wouldn't have been hard to tidy up a bit!

"What! Phil, that's got nothing to do with anything. Just because I'm a Christian, it doesn't mean I hate you!"

"Really?" Phil whispered, looking up at Dan in surprise.

"Religious doesn't mean Transphobic."

"Not always."​