1/ One of my favorite Dr. King quotations is about street sweepers, and I'd like to tell you why I'm thinking about it a lot today.
(image: @TheKingCenter)
#TransDayOfVisibility
(image: @TheKingCenter)
#TransDayOfVisibility
2/ When I read this quote as a kid, I was dirt poor. My mother worked minimum wage jobs for long hours. We were on welfare. To me, this quotation was a revelation because it amplified the dignity of the adults in my life. It made them visible, not the set pieces of other stories.
3/ As an adult, as an out transgender person, that take on labor has expanded in my eyes. Visibility is not easy. Visibility for trans people, in our time, is a form of labor. In many ways, being openly transgender is a job in itself.
4/ I am stared at everywhere I go. Even in progressive spaces, I am a focal point. Most of the time, it's not malicious. It's curiosity. Our visibility has increased in recent years, but it's still lacking. And so, folks are curious. They ask with their eyes.
5/ That, in itself, can be very uncomfortable, and there's another issue here: I am representing trans people. I didn't ask for that. I just wanna be my authentic self. But when people see me and other trans folks, their impression of us will form their views of ALL trans people.
6/ Please note that 1) I definitely *do not* speak for other trans folks and 2) no trans person should ever feel the need to navigate their identity in a particular way. And that is precisely the point of today. Visibility in all its facets.
7/ Every time we walk out our front doors, we are committing a revolutionary act. Every space we navigate as our true selves, from back alleys to the halls of Congress, becomes a burden of labor in winning hearts and minds. Every school. Every workplace. Every prison.
8/ Mind you: the labor's goal is not to be liked. The labor is to be recognized in all our humanity. Having our seat at the table. Being permitted to navigate the same spaces everyone else navigates with the same freedom and comfort.
9/ Some of us have a greater burden than others: transgender women of color face racism and disproportionate rates of violence. Non-binary, genderqueer, and gender-conforming people, in particular, face a unique and tragic erasure.
10/ The transgender community contains infinite experiences, and that is why visibility is so important. That the world finally recognize the infinite nature of our existence that is so readily obvious in others. That we become as ordinary as the breath in our lungs.
11/ I can sit here today typing this because of all the transgender people who came before me and paved the way: Marsha P. Johnson, @JanetMock, @Lavernecox, @SarahEMcBride, @pwcdanica, @CasaRubyDC, just to name a few. Their revolutionary visibility gave clarity to my own.
12/ I've never wanted the burden of being visible but I've always wanted more kids in Central Texas (my home) to have my visibility. Kids that know something about them is different but can't quite put a finger on it. Kids that KNOW but must remain silent. They need visibility.
13/ And so, I am called to be a street sweeper. This is how God made me. This is how She blessed me. My labor is to be my true self, resplendent in my full humanity, full of challenges, so that others may walk these clean streets that were paved by those who came before me.
13/ That is why today exists. I stand on the shoulders of other transgender people who demanded the world recognize us on *our* terms. I want others to have the ability to stand on my shoulders. And I want all gender identities to have the recognition they deserve.
14/ So, thank a transgender person today for being visible. Tell them your pronouns. Ask about theirs. And then, listen to their stories. We're a pretty amazing community. Trans is beautiful and powerful. /thread
