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Screenshot of a photo embedded on a webpage. The photo caption in small print says Sylvia Rivera at Age 18 in New York City, 1969 laying back and posing on the edge of a water fountain. At a young age Sylvia began fighting for gay and transgender rights while also helping homeless young drag queens, like herself, gay youth, and trans people. She was a co-founder of Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with Marsha P. Johnson. Photo by Kay Tobin / New York Public Library

Sylvia began fighting for gay and rights

No, it’s not a typo. It’s 🏳️‍⚧️ erasure. Sylvia Rivera began fighting for gay and transgender rights. Hold the flickering candle of that sentence. We know what the Stonewall National Monument said.

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yellow leaf closeup

Trans volta

I didn’t choose the word ‘trans’ to describe my unique life path, nor would I have chosen it, but these days, this word happens to be the umbrella that works in the rain. A word you can use alongside ‘trans’ is ‘volta’.

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pencil sketch of two gentle hands, resting with palms up, against a muted psychedelic rainbow background

Assume humanity, then ask about happiness

Trans people‘s say-so is evidence of our happiness. But no one should ask for evidence that trans people are people. Previously, I used Lydia Polgreen’s opinion as an example, and I identified and extracted these writing tips for you. Please note this key distinction.

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old-style building seen through a large ornate archway

Can an identity be true and not true?

On ‘constitutive tension’ in our concepts. Picking apart someone else’s identity? First ask: Why do you want to? What would be gained? And lost? What happens to your own identity in the process?

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Crystal ball balancing on a rock near a bridge with an upside-down reflection of the bridge

How do we know who we are?

Do we learn it from a crystal ball—or from our guts? How do others state with certainty that they know who they are? Do they have a crystal ball? Of course, we’re jealous. How can we know ourselves, too?

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