Flowers in the sky

Dreamy & Vibrant Graphic Illustrations by Jenny Yu

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, count to three. One - breathe. Two - make sure you’re breathing. Three.

Picture yourself in front of a mirror, staring at your reflection. Look at yourself; what do you want to tell her or him? What is your reflection saying to you? Breathe. Now, I want you to talk to your reflection, look into your eyes and tell yourself;

I am brave. I am brave, I am strong enough to overcome my fears, I can stand up for what I believe in, I can stand up for myself. I can stand up for others because I am brave.

I am honest. I can recognise the beauty in the world without disregarding the bad. I want to make this world and myself better because I am honest.

I am beautiful. My brain, every shape and every star and every flaw and curve and thing that society tells me is wrong. My mind, my heart, my spirit. I am so beautiful.

We are appalled by President Trump’s tweets about banning transgender people from military service. There are an estimated 15,000 transgender people already working in the Department of Defense, putting their lives on the line to protect our nation and its values. Those values do not include the heartlessness exhibited by Mr. Trump this morning. Discrimination has no place in our government, in our workplaces, our schools, or anywhere else in our lives.

While it’s still unclear what the actual policy ramifications of these tweets will be, we recommend keeping up with (and, if you can, donating to) the ACLU and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. 

You can also directly tell the president how unacceptable his attack on American servicepersons is by using this form provided by the @transgenderfreedomproject.

We know there will be plenty of conversation about this on Tumblr in the coming days, and we urge you to take this moment to support and educate each other in whatever ways you can. And if you just need someone to talk to right now, there are people here to listen, 24 hours a day, seven days a week:

Trans Lifeline: A crisis hotline by and for the transgender community. 877-565-8860

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Crisis Text Line: Text START to 741741

The Trevor Lifeline (@thetrevorproject​): Confidential hotline for LGBTQ+ young people. 1-866-488-7386