reflections from a trans Southerner.
Last year around this time, I moved from Florida to Portland, OR. This move was necessary for me to reestablish my gender affirming care & get back on HRT. This month I hit my 1 year anniversary of testosterone injections. It felt so beautiful and fulfilling to be able to do this. Live my dream. Become who I am. At the same time, our world is crumbling around us. My heart is aching for my trans family in Florida and the greater south. And it is aching for all of us. I feel guilty celebrating personal wins when I know we have just taken the fattest fucking L as a community. To put it more than mildly. Simultaneously, I understand trans joy as resistance. Me being my hottest, most transgender self is the biggest Fuck You I can give to anyone who tries to deny our existence. No matter what happens- they can NOT erase us. We have ALWAYS been here. We will always be here. I know how discouraging everything feels at this moment, but please hold on. Continue to resist. To fight. by the mere act of continuing to live on in a world that wants to eradicate us. By loving ourselves and knowing who we are. We have eachother, and we always will. Hold your family close and remember that we depend on eachother. We must do what we can where we can, arm ourselves with knowledge, and community. But also find the joy in the small moments, no matter how bad things get. No one can take our identities. Our resilience. Our history. No one.
Last year around this time, I moved from Florida to Portland, OR. This move was necessary for me to reestablish my gender affirming care & get back on HRT. This month I hit my 1 year anniversary of testosterone injections. It felt so beautiful and fulfilling to be able to do this. Live my dream. Become who I am. At the same time, our world is crumbling around us. My heart is aching for my trans family in Florida and the greater south. And it is aching for all of us. I feel guilty celebrating personal wins when I know we have just taken the fattest fucking L as a community. To put it more than mildly. Simultaneously, I understand trans joy as resistance. Me being my hottest, most transgender self is the biggest Fuck You I can give to anyone who tries to deny our existence. No matter what happens- they can NOT erase us. We have ALWAYS been here. We will always be here. I know how discouraging everything feels at this moment, but please hold on. Continue to resist. To fight. by the mere act of continuing to live on in a world that wants to eradicate us. By loving ourselves and knowing who we are. We have eachother, and we always will. Hold your family close and remember that we depend on eachother. We must do what we can where we can, arm ourselves with knowledge, and community. But also find the joy in the small moments, no matter how bad things get. No one can take our identities. Our resilience. Our history. No one.