To My Trans Sisters by Charlie Craggs

Author:Charlie Craggs [Craggs, Charlie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781785923432
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Kingsley, Jessica Publishers
Published: 2017-10-19T00:00:00+00:00

Kristine W. Holt

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Kristine W. Holt is an American lawyer, activist, speaker and author. A graduate of Temple University School of Law, she has dedicated a great deal of her career to serving the LGBT community, defending us and our rights in court. She has been the recipient of several academic awards, including the CALI Excellence for the Future Award for Legal Writing and Research. In 1995 Kristine ran in the Democratic primary for her local county office, and was placed fourth out of seven candidates. In 1997 she published Re-evaluating Holloway: Title VII, Equal Protection, and the Evolution of a Transgender Jurisprudence.

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To my trans sisters,

You stand in a position where I was many years ago, stepping off on a journey few people travel. Rest assured, while your companions may be few, you will not travel alone. And while you may travel with others, your future will be solely what YOU make of it.

It is a good thing to meet others like yourself, younger and older, and drink in all their experiences. Everyone has something to share with you, and you, in turn, will share with them what you have discovered. Soon, you’ll find someone you come to respect and seek them out for their special wisdom. Take what you can use. You may later find that your ‘mentor’ has clay feet; it happened to me. That’s okay, though, and it is just part of learning what authenticity is all about. Embrace it where you can find it. (As Polonius advised his child, Laertes, who was just setting forth upon his own journey: ‘To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.’) Many other fellow travelers will come into and out of your life, eager to share something with you, for good or for bad, even if they don’t know it themselves. Graciously accept what they give, and use it as you may.

The journey will be arduous. We are of a kind little understood by the mainstream of humanity. There will be times when you might wish you’d never been born. You may feel at times that you might have made a mistake. Maybe you feel you lack the courage, stamina, resources, support or whatever you need to sustain yourself. I’ve been there, too. But two thoughts that helped drive me forward were these: there is only one thing in this world that will kill me – everything else I will survive; and where there is life, there is hope. You are a unique creation of the universe, and as such, you have a right to exist. Do the hard legwork, and the universe will deliver for you.

The decision to transition brings with it great opportunities if you can recognize them for what they are. Let me tell you a little about myself: I was fired from my job as an intake worker at a government office after coming out as transgender (or transsexual, as we called it back then).

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