Growing up not knowing that trans people like me existed didn't make me cis.

Jess👾

Growing up not knowing that trans people like me existed didn't make me cis. It just made me traumatized.

Jess👾

Which of course for transphobes ... Is working as intended.

Jess👾

Trans visibility is one of those genies that transphobes are terrified they can't put back in the bottle.

I can't even tell you how blown away Jess of 1995 would have been if she could see an honest to God trans woman being sworn in to the US Congress. Shaking hands and smiling at the cameras with the minority leader and other Caucus leaders. Casting votes in the halls of power on the behalf of hundreds of thousands of people from her state who knew exactly who she was and wanted her to represent them.

Or that there are trans musicians with millions and millions of fans
Trans actors
Trans engineers
Trans rocket scientists
Trans doctors.

And even that a trans woman could be a normal suburban housewife, living with her wife and kids, going to the PTA and helping out with bake sales and just living her life. Most folks in the neighborhood know she's trans, and simply don't care.

Sure, 1995 Jess had found that 'transsexuals' existed, in porn or on Jerry Springer or deeply stealth. But she didn't know that we could be normal. Respected. Loved. Successful. Or even ... that people could know who you are, and find it ... Normal. Boring. Like that being trans is the 4th most interesting thing about you.

Of course they're going to fight like hell to try to cram us back in the closet. At times, violently so. But it's going to prove impossible for them to do so.

Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

@JessTheUnstill Same shit with gay people.

Representation matters.

I used to think "pride" was stupid.

Why would you be proud of the hand you were dealt?

That's not what it's about though.

It's about being proud of how you play it. Of not folding.

Undercat

@JessTheUnstill This. This resonates so strongly with me. My wife and I have often said that our main goal is to be as boring as possible. I was doing our grocery shopping recently and had a brief conversation with a complete stranger about the price of olive oil and walked away feeling validated by how absolutely mundane it had been. It’s a far cry from where I was at in ‘95 and I’ve no intention in going back.

Jess👾

@Undercat Back when I started transitioning, I set a goal to try to make my life such that being trans was at most the 3rd most interesting thing about me. I want people to know and like me for stuff I do, not what bits I was born with.

Jess👾

@ryanc I think about the differences between the "Homophile" and the "Pride" movements of the 50s and 70s respectively. The Homophiles were generally wealthy white assimilationists who wanted to prove they were harmless and not create waves. Pride threw bricks and filled streets and demanded cops leave them alone. And far too many have lost sight of that.

Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

@JessTheUnstill I wonder where people see me between those two positions?

Jess👾

@ryanc These days, many more of us, you and me included, don't have to throw bricks as much. But it still means we need to be aware of the activism and victories won by those before us, and to remember that our right to exist unapologetically can't be given and taken away by politicians, we have to keep fighting for our rights ourselves DESPITE politicians. And if and when we see Black trans women throwing bricks at cops, that we shouldn't be tut tutting at them for making waves, we need to cheer them on and if possible, march beside them.

Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

@JessTheUnstill In some ways, it feels like throwing bricks would be safer and easier.

mechanistisches Entmench

@JessTheUnstill @Undercat @ryanc

The USA is toxic and needs to be evacuated. Stay away from the USA. If you're in the USA, move to the Netherlands (credit: https://www.expatarrivals.com/article/best-countries-lgbtq-expats)./gen

Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

@walkinglampshade @JessTheUnstill @Undercat you have no idea how hard it is to move to another country

mechanistisches Entmench

@ryanc @JessTheUnstill @Undercat

Do you say that you are confronting me?

Jess👾

And it's basically hopeless to get a visa unless you're a very specific category of wealthy, highly educated, and abled person with citizenship from a wealthy country.

@ryanc @walkinglampshade @Undercat

Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

@JessTheUnstill @walkinglampshade @Undercat Yup. I have no college degree, so some countries even getting a sponsored work visa might be impossible.

I was able to get an "Exceptional Talent" visa for the UK, but that would be impossible for most folks. I had to submit evidence of my patents, academic publications, widely attended conference talks, press coverage of my work, salary history, career progression, and letters of recommendation from C-level folks.

I'm also attempting to get EU citizenship "jus sanguinis", but that is costing me something like £15,000. Completely out of reach for most people even if they're lucky enough to qualify.

Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

@JessTheUnstill @walkinglampshade @Undercat As to the fact that I'm a transandrogynous nonbinary person, yeah, I'd like that to be a footnote, but I think that ship sailed when I sued the British government...

Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

@walkinglampshade @JessTheUnstill @Undercat o_O