Trans Life in the Midwest USA

Life is never easy but it becomes 10x harder when you're a minority in a potentially hostile environment. I was born in Good Ol' Blue State California as a girl, at least that's what the doctors told my parents. So begins the next 2 decades of my life in the Bay Area where I have my little Twister, "Q" in the beginning of "Fire Season". Being a young parent is already hard but a less than 5 foot 19 year old seahorse is a WHOLE other story. "He looks just like Mama!" "Actually, it's Papa." "oh..." Commence the awkwardness! 6 months later, We moved to the lovely snowstorm state of North Dakota which was a huge difference and yet completely the same. The amount of judgement stayed the same, but the kind of judgment differed.

Public posts in the community page about transgender individuals and how they "affect" the community. Well would you like to know how I affect the community? I'll happily share. I am on a Youth Action Board for the area, dedicated to helping end youth homelessness. We just had the pleasure of announcing new housing opportunities in the area. I donate to and volunteer at local organizations, work with preschoolers helping to ensure their safety and host local events for the local LGBT community. What is wrong with that? Nothing The LGBT community is so commonly misjudged by people who either have never met one of us or have a perverted idea of what many of us stand for and believe in. Many of us are social activists, many of us are parents, many of us work as hard as we can to spread hope, love and light with the world. Many of us are religious or spiritual as well, with that portion being incredibly misunderstood. Not to sound Corny, but we all bleed red. I firmly believe that people are inherently good, no child is born with malice in their heart. It is crafted, it is put there. Today, I have two little ones total, Twister aka "Q" and Potato aka "R". My little QR codes. Twister calls me "Papa", Potato is too young to speak. My boys are not "confused" because they do not have societal expectations of or from me, only love. Children are inherently loving and curious, my boys are definitely evidence of that.