happy pride!!
Yesterday, I went to pride. My very first pride, too, despite being out as a trans woman for the better half of like, four years now. Five, maybe. However long ago eighth grade was. I'm a freshman, rising sophomore, in college, so, you do the math.
My friend Malachi and I went. It was cool -- I've never seen so many similar people to me all in one place before. This older lesbian woman sat next to us while we were eating food and was like, "Hey, is it better growing up queer now?" and we were like "Kinda sorta!"
I told her about my experiences in high school, which mostly consisted of being bullied and harassed by guys on whatever sports team they played, certain teachers refusing to respect my pronouns, being othered by the girls, so on and so forth. It wasn't my favorite experience, to be honest. But, it wasn't all bad -- I knew plenty of people (mostly theatre kids, lol) who were fine with trans people, and there were even some other trans kids at my school.
We had a nice chit chat afterwards about what it was like growing up gay P.O. (Pre-Obama). She also told us she's a teacher and hopes that by being out and proud as a teacher -- even if it's to her first-graders -- she's creating a safer environment for queer and trans students. Or at least showing her students that queer people aren't monsters.
It kinda left me wondering - how can I do that? I'm not perfect, nor am I the model representation of queer/transness. I have tried to kill myself more than once. I've made mistakes, I've fucked up. All I can really say is that like everyone else, I'm trying. That's all I have to offer.
The thought of being a teacher bounces around in my head sometimes. I like it, the idea of teaching high schoolers about books and grammar and poems and whatnot.
Maybe that's how I make a change.