*Press It* First they came for…

Leaving aside everything else that is wrong and immoral about this proposed ban, at the moment there are something like 11,000 trans people currently serving openly in the US services and reserves. They are there legally, and it is currently their right to serve openly. Trump’s ban, at first glance, appears to take away their…

via A Note on Trump’s Proposed Ban of Transgender in the Military — Whatever

I have no words for a country that wants to take rights away from people, instead of arcing towards justice.

I could say something about how a big part of why I have PTSD can be traced right back to the belief that some people are less ‘people’ than others. I could cite more sources about where that dangerous lie leads in the end. I could just insert a middle finger emoji. However, I am not a professional writer. So, instead I’ll share the words of a best-selling author and hope he’s more persuasive than I am.

I’m not trans, and that’s exactly why it matters that I be angry, too. Yes, I have my own struggles going on, today in particular, but that makes it all the more important I speak up.

I read a lovely post today from another blogger that included the line “slowly dying of survival.” That is one of the best descriptions of trauma I have ever read. (I guess this means that I need to watch Sense8!) I feel like that often. My PTSD stems from events which both have not resolved and which I can’t just run from to personal safety because that would mean abandoning someone else who needs me to injustice. I feel like I’m just done often, today in particular. I’d never hurt myself, but I’m slowly dying of survival. I feel like just trying to fight for stasis takes too much to leave anything for change, yet an advocate is what so many marginalized groups need in the face of the systemic dismantling of human dignity that is the U.S. today.

I feel like my PTSD/ADHD make me too much of a hollowed-out flake to be the kind of advocate the people who rely on me need – to dream of systemic change – but personal experience has taught me that you can’t assume anyone else will be there unless it affects them personally. I will thus keep fighting in however meager a way I can to save others from the fallout from unjust systems that deny human dignity.

I ask that you join me – be that speaking up when you see a disabled individual, a person of color, or an LGBT individual being discriminated against, calling your Senators to advocate for the care of America’s marginalized, buying a meal for a homeless individual, or just voting with a conscience.

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Need a recap of anything I’m talking about in any post? Check out the Glossary of Terms.