They added a caption with a poem that reads:
Y'all know I'm trans and queer, And what that means for me all around, Is something that's neither there nor here, It's a happy, scary middle ground. So when I talk gender inclusion, And I wrote these rhymes to help you see, I'm not tryna bring up something shallow, Periods are honestly pretty traumatic for me. See my life is very clearly marked, Like a red border cut up a nation, A time before and a time beyond, The mark of my first menstruation. So let me take you back, To the details that I can still recall, Of the day I gained my first period, And the day that I lost it all. I was 15 and still happy, Running around, all chest bared and buck, Climbing trees, digging holes, And no one gave a single f**k. I mean I think my ma was worried, So I went and grew out my locks, A sign I was normal, still a girl, A painted neon sign for my gender box. So, the day I got my period, My god, a day so proud, This little andro f****d up kid, Had been bestowed the straight, cis shroud. The relief got all meshed up in my pain, In that moment, I sat down and cried, Just thanking god I was normal, While mourning the freedom that had died. Everyone told me my hips would grow, I looked at them and couldn't stop crying, "What's wrong with you? You'll be a woman!" They kept celebrating a child dying. See my body had betrayed me, That red dot, the wax seal, On a contract left there broken, A gender identity that wasn't real. Most people deal with blood and tissue, And yet my body forces me to surrender, Cause every time I get my cycle, Is another day I shed my gender. My boobs betray me first, I feel them stretching out my binder, I send up questions, "am I cursed?" And wish to god that she was kinder. The five days it flows, I try to breathe, I dissociate, While my body rips outs parts of me, Leaving nothing but a shell of hate. The blood drips from an open wound, Of a war waging deep inside my corpse, The battle between mind and body, Immovable object; unstoppable force.
Because Clemmer was born with female reproductive organs and has not completed the full medical transition, they still menstruate every month.
While some thanked them for making a stand on an almost invisible social issue, others did not agree with Clemmer's post.
"That's just gross bro! If your trying to be a guy, your failing! Take responsibility and grow the f*** up! I know you hate daddy, but daddy is right. Embarrassing," one Instagram user commented.
Another Instagram user pointed out that this is a reality many still have to accept exist. "He was a woman but he wasn't comfortable identifying as one. Now he's a man because that's what he feels comfortable with and what he identifies as. Men can have periods. Welcome to the 21st century where transgender and lgbt+ people exist."
For Clemmer, the controversy surrounding the post is one of the biggest signs that it was worth sharing as it is obvious that a conversation about the issue is needed.
"I end up going exclusively into women's restrooms because it's honestly safer during the days I'm bleeding," the artist told Metro in the UK.
"Getting your period while not identifying as a woman can feel like a monthly battle both with your own body and with a world that continuously tells you that your identity isn't real.
"Every time people say periods are just for women, they negate my identity and essentially render me and my experiences invisible."
