freelansing in Seattle

And so it begins. Just because gut-punches are expected doesn’t make them less painful. Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. “Drill, baby, drill” will be the new national energy policy. Asylum seekers in desperate need will be turned away. People doing nothing wrong will be deported. Ending birthright citizenship (this won’t likely hold up legally, but still…).

But I think the gut-punch that hit me hardest was the legal erasure of gender-noncomforming people. The federal government will now recognize only two genders. Trans people will be designated the gender they were assigned at birth & lose access to facilities & services that match their gender identities. How do you just erase the identities of millions of Americans? What kind of performative cruelty is this? How does this help anyone?

I have a non-binary housemate, a trans nephew, & a non-binary ‘niephew.’ Two are relatively safe in blue states. The other is simply leaving the country to get away from legalized bigotry. I take this shit personally.

Many of us have gender non-conforming people in our lives who we love & care for. It’s important to affirm their identities and be there for them now. We need to say, “We see you, we support you, & we affirm who you are, even if the federal government doesn’t. We know your correct pronouns, & we are here to support you in any way we can.” To hell with legalized bigotry!