Standing up with transgender folks
Lives lived fully are worth fighting for.
Our brains engage in powerful processing of concepts to help us develop an understanding of complex subjects. We compare new structures to ones we're already familiar with, we use analogies, we categorize. This can be a beautiful thing. I mean, it's the foundation of a lot of art. And it feels good, the way something can *click* for us when a new understanding fits neatly.
But when I became a biology researcher, I had to break past a lot of that kind of processing, because biology didn't evolve to be understood, it just... evolved. Its very foundation is randomness. I kept trying to understand how biology worked through analogies, but over and over again those analogies I was constructing did not lead to understanding, they led to dead ends. DNA is not like computer code. Cells are not like machines. I had to learn to just be in awe of nature, to let it show itself to me and understand it on its own terms.
It was a little frightening at first, like treading water in deep ocean, or maybe how a spacewalker feels. Foundationless. Vast. You can't help but feel small in it all. But then, I felt incredible joy. The world, all of creation, became bigger, more beautiful, more possible.
Being one little participant in the colossal experience of Life is an honor, and being able to perceive its vastness is an endless joy.
The culture in my corner of the world has, for hundreds of years, oversimplified something: the idea that we each fit into only one of two categories: "man" or "woman," and that that category can be figured out based solely on genitals. This is not how the world actually works, though. Please watch this video, because it covers a lot of science more effectively than I can here:
We're in a clumsy time right now, as our culture is starting to understand how much incredible variety we've been missing when it comes to sex and gender—or, more accurately, sweeping under the rug.
No matter how uncomfortable this makes us, no matter what we have to shake up and change, it's deeply, deeply important that we stop sweeping people under the rug. Every one of us gets only one go at this life thing. The idea that someone's existence should be suppressed, stymied, shaved down, because by merely existing they might make our faultily-designed social constructs strain a bit... no! Let's not do that, please! Let's reshape our social constructs to fit reality, and let's not force a single person to spend their entire, one-and-only life not being true to themselves. I'm not sure there's a greater crime than depriving someone of their only opportunity to experience their one life.
I do not need sports more than I need people to be able to be who they are. Full stop. Sports are optional, people's biology is not. But it's a moot point: transgender people are not, in reality, disrupting sports. We can have both! This is a bit of silliness that deserves to be utterly debunked, and once again I'm going to let a pro handle it—please watch John Oliver on the subject of trans athletes:
So many aspects of our lives are under attack by the authoritarian Trump regime. They are intentionally dividing our attention across as many issues as they can. It's overwhelming by design, they want us spread thin and worn out. That's why transgender folks need us to fight for them right now. Do not allow politicians to say this isn't important, or that it's a distraction. Trans lives are not a bargaining chip, and they are not expendable. They are people, ordinary people, not pawns in a political game. I'm going to say it again:
I'm not sure there's a greater crime than depriving someone of their only opportunity to experience their one life.
Don't get sucked into anti-trans scare tactics, especially when it comes to kids. I know several kids who are trans or non-binary, and they are under the most thoughtful, cautious medical care. There is so much absolute silly bunk out there around trans kids—if you're feeling some "but what about" around trans kids, please hit pause. Gender-affirming care saves lives. The American Academy of Pediatrics is clear on the need for gender-affirming care for transgender kids. The American Medical Association has come out strongly against any legislation that would interfere with gender-affirming care for kids. Medical care for trans kids does not happen at, and is not initiated by, schools.
To understand how to support trans folks, it's best to listen to trans folks, and that's not me. A great place to start is Gwendolyn Smith, who posts on Bluesky as @gwenners.bsky.social—following her there is an outstanding way to hear from the broader trans community on current events, she shares some great posts. For deeper dives, she has been writing a column, "Transmissions," for the Bay Area Reporter since 2000.
Generally speaking, some ways trans people are asking for our support right now include:
- Contact your representatives, tell them that you expect them to fight for trans folks' rights,
- Especially contact your representatives about any specific legislation targeting the trans community where you live, and explicitly let them know where you stand,
- Make yourself heard by institutions that are making decisions that impact the trans community, especially ones that impact their employment and health care,
- Speak out when you hear misinformation or transphobia in your community,
- Be a good social safety net for trans people in your community, through financial, practical, and emotional support,
- Hire trans people! As if all of the governmental attacks aren't bad enough, trans folks often don't get a fair shake in the job market.
And I'll add my own: teach your kids about the reality of the biology of sex and gender, from an early age. This stuff can be tricky for us grown ups, because we're having to unlearn deeply entrenched ideas—but it's not really that hard if you learn it right the first time. Kids' brains are built for making sense of complexity, it's downright easy for them! The full details of chromosomes and hormones won't be interesting to really little kids, that can come later, but even very young kids can understand "most of the time, but not always."
Transgender people make my life better, because they are the manifestation of the reality of Life, and its awe-inspiring variety and expansiveness. They make my experience of existence feel more real. Ideas of gender built on false foundations are holding every single one of us back. Now is the time for us to stand together and make sure we all get to be our full selves.