I think it’s a testament to the resilience and resourcefulness of trans people that we often come out and make our way in and through spaces that are not built to support us. We build the bridge as we cross the river, so to speak. And I also think it’s fucked up that we have to be the ones to build that bridge in the first place.
Years ago I supported a transition plan for a brave kid who was coming out at his school. The school had no idea what to do— he was their first (out) trans kid. So I spoke with the kid, we made a plan as to how he wanted things to go down and we completed that plan through education and administrative changes. The school was really on board and it went really well.
The next year they called me again and said “you’ll never believe it… we’ve had 6 kids come out and want to transition at school”. And duh of course I believed it. Why? Because that kid had built that bridge for the school and now people who had been there the whole time were using it. It’s amazing that first kid came out and forged a path… but he shouldn’t have had to have been amazing to be himself.
Don’t wait for your first out trans person to build that bridge. Take the initiative and build that bridge for us before we show up cause we’re all very tired of being the brave and amazing ones.
