Two posts here in Susan's, and one from a girl on facebook got me thinking this morning. On Susan's, Stephanie asked if "one day things can get better", and Evolving Beauty posted about a Youtube video from Young Turks. And in Facebook I received a post about an article related to Selfies and Pride, as discussed by Laverne Cox from "Orange Is The New Black". I've reposted the links to youtube, and the Laverne Cox information below.
First, let me say you should all see the Youtube video posted by Evolving Beauty, BUT watch it on Youtube, AND READ THE COMMENTS posted by the bigots who felt it was necessary to relay their ignorance and idiotic hate for trans women and men. If you ever questioned if hateful bigotry is as bad as it's purported to be, the scum that wrote those vile comments should show how pervasive it really is.
Second, read the article and watch the Laverne Cox video. Pride is tightly related to our freedom, and it defines our self worth. Pride is something we find through transition, and it doesn't turn on like a light. It grows in us, and we slowly begin to show it to others in the way we live our lives. I post a lot of selfies on Facebook, and even though it may annoy some of my friends I really don't care. I love myself, and the way I look, But most of all I'm proud, and I don't mind showing it.
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So with that said, I'll get on to something terribly important, and relatively short when you consider what I'm trying to say. I was going to post this as a response to Stephanie, but changed my mind when I read the other two posts.
This is what trans rights are all about. I can't speak adequately for the struggle in other nations, but in America we want nothing more than to be availed the same protections guaranteed to everyone else under the US and State Constitutions. We fight bigotry, misinformation, discrimination in employment and housing, a lack of access to medical care, and of course the ingrained public perceptions that are expounded by bigots, and further propagated by small groups spouting misguided social or religious intolerance.
Yes we have an information and instructional battle to wage in our communities, schools, churches, State or Federal Legislatures, and the many private organizations in the United States. I will never force my beliefs on any group that currently excludes us, since it does little more than encourage the bigotry we fight against. But I will try to educate them when I can, and support all the education we can push forward. It's what we need to do for our future, and the future of the girls and guys that will come along after we're gone.
There's a Transgender Day of Remembrance each year on November 20 for a good reason. We owe what we have now to all the girls, boys, women and men that we honor on that day. But we also owe it to those who are hurting today, and we should offer them all the support we can. So lets show pride in ourselves, and do whatever we can to help our community ... no matter how small or trivial we feel our efforts are, it's all needed.
Yes, I'm proud of who I am, I've accepted my losses, I fight my personal battles, and I've gone through decades of internal turbulence that have finally led me to this life. Or course there's bad days when I'm hopeless or otherwise depressed, but then there's that 99% of days when life is nothing less than beautiful. I want every one of my sisters to feel the same about their days, and to know the wonderment of their lives. Not just as they grow and bloom, but also in the maturity of their being.
Sorry this was so lengthy, but good or bad it was done with PRIDE.
Katherine Henna Koski
http://fusion.net/culture/story/transgender-selfies-acts-revolutionary-love-425546
