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| ISSUE NO. 606 |
| SINCE OCTOBER 2021 . . . one of my kids has identified as a gender different than they were assigned at birth. I share this neither to collect kudos, nor to encourage criticism, but rather to help humanize the experience of trans kids. If you read this newsletter on the regular, then you know someone who has a trans child. Admittedly, I did not know much about the trans experience before that (and I am still learning every day). I did not fully understand how it could unfold. And I might not have totally believed that such a small human could communicate such big concepts that I - as an adult - still didn't quite comprehend. I had not realized how much of our collective everyday lives (language, clothing, norms) center around or are juxtaposed against our perceived gender. I had not stopped to consider what it fully meant to be transgender, or how it would play out in a trans person's everyday life - such as wondering if my 5-year-old can sign up for a soccer team, or which bathroom they should use when we are out in public places. I did not make efforts to advocate for trans people. It seemed like something I was hearing about more often, but yet another area to advocate in a sea of competing crises. Now I know more. Now I have seen more. Now I feel more. Now I cannot look away. ///// In May, sandwiched between the back-to-back-to-back atrocities of war, the pending overturning of Roe v. Wade, and a seemingly endless string of mass shootings, state legislatures quietly passed several pieces of anti-queer / anti-trans legislation (some of which have - thankfully - been temporarily blocked). In Texas, SB 29 tried to ensure parents like me, who give gender affirming care to their child, would be reported to child protective services. In Florida, HB1557 ensures that kids like mine do not have the opportunity to be affirmed by their teachers by using the appropriate pronouns, or to see people like themselves represented in books. In Ohio, to ensure that sports are gender segregated HB 61 can require genital inspection for any student whose sex is called into question. And in Alabama, SB 184 calls for doctors that provide gender affirming care to be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. These are just a handful of the 240+ anti-queer / anti-trans bills that have been proposed in state legislatures in 2022 alone. ///// Our ask is that you remember the roots of Pride. It is not just about celebrating queer identities, but also advocating for them. So if you are attending a parade, going to see a drag show, and / or making a rainbow version of your logo, we hope that you are also contacting your state and federal representatives, donating to organizations that support LQBTQIA2S+ people and protect their rights, and working to educate yourself and unpack the biases you find in your own experiences and in your personal and professional networks. Get started at The Trevor Project, the ACLU, and / or The National Center for Transgender Equality. ///// People sometimes ask me if I grieve the loss of the child I had, but this is the same human that I gave birth to, and I feel grateful that she trusts me enough to tell me exactly who she is (even if, or especially as, that changes along the way). I do not grieve. I celebrate, because she teaches me everything about what is right in the human experience. And I am grateful because she helps me de-program from all of the ways that I didn't even know I have been trained to conform. I do not know how this story ends, but I have an open heart and mind. I hope you will have the same. With gratitude, |
tidbits...resources on anti-racism, environmentalism and food culture AKA stuff we're reading / listening to / watching / noticing / thinking about / captivated by this Tuesday . . . |
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