I don’t know why I was born transgender, but I have no secret agenda. I want my child to live in a world where they are safe and free to be exactly who they are.
…
Fewer than 1 in 3 people report personally knowing someone who is transgender. Yet the American public is saturated with viral social media videos and political news stories, largely generated by a well-funded coalition of organizations long dedicated to making it as difficult as possible for LGBTQ+ people to go about their daily lives.
These organizations proudly advocate for the abuse of LGBTQ+ young people through the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy, and they have celebrated their role in influencing Texas to “investigate” parents who’re doing their level best to support their transgender kids.
They’ve succeeded in generating national debates about excluding transgender kids from school sports, banning medically necessary health care and even prohibiting restroom usage – all under a guise of “protecting young people.” But these debates are largely missing the point.
Transgender people are our friends, family members and neighbors. They work in the cubicle next to us at the office, and they pray next to us in our houses of worship.
….
Oklahoman here. I don’t know whether Nex died by suicide or not. But on a local level, the Owasso (and greater) community hasn’t given up the fight yet. Whether his injuries from the attack at school are what directly killed him or not, it doesn’t change the fact that he’d been a target of bullying for months and that he and his family were repeatedly ignored by the school and the police, and then he was beaten in the school bathroom by several classmates. Since his death, our politicians have doubled down on transphobic rhetoric, and our schools are still becoming more and more hostile towards LGBT+ youth. There’s a lot to talk about here, and local organizations have done a great job on covering these issues in press releases and the like. And there’s still more to come; we’re currently waiting on the release of the Medical Examiner’s full report (unless it’s been published already; I last checked about a week ago, and I just don’t have the emotional spoons today).
Anyway, sorry for going into a whole rant. What I was going to say, in reply to your comment, is that our OCME (office of the chief medical examiner) hasn’t been nationally accredited since 2009. So, um. There’s that. ¯\(°_o)/¯
Yes - I left out a word and changed the entire meaning of the sentence. I do not believe Nex killed himself. I believe that Owasso Public Schools and the Owasso police were complicit and are involved in covering up Nex’s death.
I’m a transgender teacher in Oklahoma that quit teaching last year because I knew that if something happened to me, there would be no help and there would be an immediate flood of bullshit.
The FBI exists because of Oklahoma’s refusal to investigate the murder of minorities…
No worries, I did understand what you meant, sorry if my tone made it sound like I was disagreeing. I think yours is a reasonable judgement. I’m sorry for what you’ve been through. I’m trans here too and this state is a mess. Always has been.
I respect anyone who chooses to leave, and I might leave one day. Still, there are good people here, and I care about this place, so I hope we can make things better.
You’re too right. It’s a tired tradition.