Hi. Great post! Very interesting unfolding of you!
Also wanted to say that many of us are not with our natal parents, and for many of us, this came about as the result of violence (combat or policy war, rape, human trafficking, etc.) and so we do not have those references you mentioned above, making being a foster child, an adoptee, or otherwise dislocated and displaced person another identity intersection, one often steeped in trauma and grief but also in resolve and resilience.
In the 2024 election cycle, Republicans and their allies spent over $375 million on television ads targeting transgender Americans—far more than on any other single issue—weaponizing identity and demonizing a marginalized community for political gain. It wasn’t about policy. It was about fear. Conservative media did its part, flooding the airwaves with outrage and lies, manufacturing a moral panic to distract from real crises and win votes off the backs of a vulnerable minority.
"You were once a principled voice for progress. Now you’re a cultural weapon in the right’s war on transgender lives." — Plus, a warning for Democratic lawmakers
For me it was when I was 43, just after my husband died when I felt relief from trying to fit into a box that subconsciously I had always known didn’t fit. But being raised so strictly as white conservative evangelical fundamentalist legalistic views, I had no words for “lesbian” let alone nonbinary or transmasculine. It took some time to figure things out and I still have a-ha moments.
Hi. Great post! Very interesting unfolding of you!
Also wanted to say that many of us are not with our natal parents, and for many of us, this came about as the result of violence (combat or policy war, rape, human trafficking, etc.) and so we do not have those references you mentioned above, making being a foster child, an adoptee, or otherwise dislocated and displaced person another identity intersection, one often steeped in trauma and grief but also in resolve and resilience.
That’s an excellent point, Joe.
In the 2024 election cycle, Republicans and their allies spent over $375 million on television ads targeting transgender Americans—far more than on any other single issue—weaponizing identity and demonizing a marginalized community for political gain. It wasn’t about policy. It was about fear. Conservative media did its part, flooding the airwaves with outrage and lies, manufacturing a moral panic to distract from real crises and win votes off the backs of a vulnerable minority.
✉️ 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗿: 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿—𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗮𝘁𝗲
"You were once a principled voice for progress. Now you’re a cultural weapon in the right’s war on transgender lives." — Plus, a warning for Democratic lawmakers
https://patricemersault.substack.com/p/dear-bill-maher-you-used-to-speak?r=4d7sow
I see you.
For me it was when I was 43, just after my husband died when I felt relief from trying to fit into a box that subconsciously I had always known didn’t fit. But being raised so strictly as white conservative evangelical fundamentalist legalistic views, I had no words for “lesbian” let alone nonbinary or transmasculine. It took some time to figure things out and I still have a-ha moments.
I see you. See me too.
I see you, Dr Kat.