Letter to the Editor

Dear Letters,

Until the last election, I felt that life in America was becoming increasingly safe for me and others like me. Come January 2017, not a day has passed on which I have not felt my sphere shrinking. Two years in, my community consists almost exclusively of other nonbinary folks. This is so because with the current President the cultural climate has shifted and American society is moving backwards toward restoring the old order of cisnormativity: Everyone tightly tethered to one of two gender poles--female and male--with no other options positioned in between--the absurd vision of a choir with only two voices.

Daily, it seems, it is being made clear in one way or another that we, as nonbinary folks, as trans people, not only don't have a right to exists but actually do not exist. Where we see our authentic self-expression, the spirit and tone of this administration encourages the public to sees pathology.

We are a vital part of this nation and this president is not seeing to our interests. In fact, he is often working against them: From trying to reinstate the transgender ban in the US military, rescinding guiding memos that protect the rights of trans students and workers, to HHS reportedly intending to establish a legal definition of sex that is tied to anatomy.  

We need to keep our hands equipped with anything we can grab--ladles, cooking spoons, and whisks. We need to clang on pots and pans to keep raising  awareness needed. We need to keep our keen eyes on each other and move towards each other. Always move towards each other. We need to express our humanity with the fiercest love that rises from our heels up through our bodies and into our fingers and mouths to write and speak up for all vulnerable people. That's the divine way.

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