Should I scream into the anti-trans hurricane?

No :)

I don’t know a single trans person who isn’t at least a little bit tired right now. And you know the “tired” I mean — not the kind that comes from lack of sleep, but rather from years of fighting.

As a queer American, my social media feeds are flooded with depressing news about anti-trans bills, drag bans, and an apparent Ron DeSantis or Trump 2.0 run for president on the horizon. American politics are a giant shitshow of impenetrable polarization, and existing as a socially conscious person here is exhausting for anyone, especially those of marginalized identities.

There is a pressure on trans people's necks all across the country regarding bathroom bills, puberty blockers, healthcare access in general, housing, employment, sports, etc. It is not possible for any of us to look away from the constant barrage of transphobic nonsense and just live our lives for a bit because transphobia makes its way into every facet of American life. Our lives, right to access public spaces, and ability to find affirming healthcare are massively under fire right now and there is no way to look away from this slow-moving train crash. I am from the perspective of someone outside watching the inevitable from a safe distance, but a lot of my trans siblings are inside of that train as it barrels toward an unfinished section of the tracks.

The trans antagonism I’m seeing everywhere is entirely impossible to ignore. In the last couple of months, I’ve seen anti-trans stickers on parking meters, trans antagonistic political ads run on MTV during RuPaul’s Drag Race, and social media is doing its thing reminding us daily that it’s dangerous to be trans here. And that’s not going into the hurricane of anti-trans sentiments being discussed on 24-hour news channels. Newscasters report often on anti-trans laws being proposed, passed, or dismissed in a way that discusses our lives as if we aren’t watching.

We are overly politicized as a community, and every transphobic walnut with an internet connection demands to be heard often and loudly as if their opinion should matter when we’re talking about human rights abuses.

This is all why I’ve pulled away from writing in the last year or two. Everything I have felt driven to write about on this…