Thanks, Sadie!

It would be a better world if everyone knew that transgender people have the same hopes and dreams as everyone else. We like to make friends and want to go to school. Transgender people want to get good jobs and go to doctors like they are exactly the same. It really isn't that hard to like transgender people because we are like everyone else."  Sadie, January 21, 2013 



Little did I know when I posted a  transkid's essay on my blog yesterday expressing her dream for the world it would take off like it did and go viral..

Sadie's essay is now up at HuffPo and there's a nice story about this young girl like us along with some photos.. .

My  thoughts when I first saw it was that it needed to be read by a wider audience.  It also encapsulated the conflicting emotions I and a lot of trans people were feeling in the wake of President Obama's second inaugural speech and witnessing him give a shoutout to the GL community in front of the nation and the entire world.

And yes, it was a trans youngling fearlessly speaking her mind through the power of the written word..

Make no mistake about it, President Obama has been the most trans friendly president in American history.  There's a lot of trans affirmative policy that has come out of his administration during his first term that has helped our community and I expect that we'll see more of the same in this second one.  It's why we transfolks busted our butts in the 2008 and 2012 campaign seasons and donated our T-bills to help him get elected twice.  

Yes, actions speak louder than words. But it bothered me that our transkids didn't get to have the affirming moment that gay and lesbian kids did of seeing and hearing the leader of their nation specifically mention them in his inauguration speech.  

To me that was important especially after the antics of the British Transphobic Troika exploded on the other side of The Pond in the weeks leading up to the inauguration and our TERF's trying to join the transphobic party.

I submit that because of the overwhelming transphobic negativity that transkids see and hear aimed at their trans elders and themselves, it is vitally important for them to develop a bedrock sense of self esteem and pride in who they are as trans human beings.  It's also important that they learn how to be fearless in speaking their minds, even if they are at times a minority of one.

It's why I and a lot of trans elders wished in that inauguration moment President Obama had said the T-word in his speech.   It's important for us and our transkids to hear our president that we helped get elected SAY it like gay and lesbian people, their kids, and more importantly the nation and the world got to hear Monday. 


Sadie's essay was important on another level.   It reminds us trans elders who we are really fighting for besides ourselves when we seek to pass trans human rights coverage. Hopefully when we adults start having drama with each other, we'll think about Sadie's essay and immediately return to having a laser like focus on the trans human rights prize.  

Thanks Sadie, for reminding us that your dream is also ours as well, and we have much work to do right now to ensure that your dream is a reality by the time you hit adulthood.

It's also a reminder to myself and the transcommunity that we not only need to be paying attention to the wise words of our trans elders, but the wise words of trans kids like yourself as well.