Yes, you got that right. This is a trans blog. This is a genderqueer blog. And it's going to be FUN!
I bet you weren't expecting that. If you have read trans blogs, like, ever, you know what we love to talk about. We love to talk about suffering. That's fair because we go through a lot of it. It's more than fair, it's necessary, it's great, and the internet wouldn't be the same without it. I read many of those blogs and comment on some of them, and thank you, every last beautiful one of you who writes, comments on, and reads those blogs for bringing our community along with the discussion.
But I can't shake the feeling that we are only painting half of the picture. I know we go through a lot of shit, but I know we are happy too, especially when we come together. I am lucky enough to live in Boston (USA), where there are quite a lot of us, and I am lucky enough to have lots of trans friends and acquaintances (oh what the hell, the acquaintances are friends too, I love them all to death). Sometimes when I hang out with these wonderful, beautiful, interesting, crush-worthy (I can't help it!) folks, we of course talk about things that hurt, but even when we do we are sharing heartfelt love and sympathy. Most of the time, though, we are joking and laughing, complimenting, talking about our fav new songs, showing off our sweet new clothes, going to open mics where we share our creativity, dancing our butts off at each others' parties and each others' events, and seeing wonderful trans performers.
Point is, we are fun, we are cool, we are vibrant, we are loving, we are fabulous! And it's not despite being trans, we are fun because of it. Being trans is fun. Whoaaaa there, you say. Slow down, you say, being trans is painful, it's so much harder than if I were cis. That's true, it is. I have suffered a lot in my life from being trans, from the years of loneliness and bullying in an all-boys high school, to the time in the psychiatric ward and under the thumb of the mental health system, to almost committing suicide, to losing nearly all of my friends, to abusing alcohol, to running away from home because my parents refused to accept my gender, to losing my job because the weight of being misgendered and stared all the time was just to much, to being queer bashed, and so on and so forth. But I would not give up being trans, ever. I love it, I love being trans.
I love being able to decide my gender. I love being able to wear different clothes and signal different genders from day to day, or even within the same day. I love that smashing up against the walls of gender has freed me from the ridiculous confines of its judgments and narrowness (seriously, I feel like the one eyed person in the land of the blind, which makes me QUEEN). I love being interesting, damnit! When it comes down to it, cisgender is just so boring. (Fashion queen mode) You're... you're gonna do something about this whole thing you've got going on, right? Listen, honey, did you even think about your gender before you went out today? We're gonna work on this, when I'm through with you, you'll be genderFABULOUS (end fashion queen mode).
So this blog is going to be dedicated to the positive experiences of being us. That doesn't mean hiding the suffering. It means acknowledging the suffering, but keeping it uplifting. And it definitely does not mean avoiding politics! But it does mean that, on this blog, we are going to approach our politics and our desire to bring down oppression in the light of building enjoyable community and just being happy with ourselves. Let's not forget why transphobia is bad, after all. Transphobia is bad because it makes us hurt, because it bars us from being happy. So let's fight back against transphobia by being happy! Being happy is the most revolutionary thing that we can do. This is a space for us, those who have gone through so much pain because of gender, to be happy. Here, we are going to practice being happy with ourselves, happy about gender, happy with the beauty in each other. Ok I can sense you feeling guilty already! It's ok to feel pain, and, like I said, don't hide it, bring it here, tell us about it, let us know it's there, and then just try, even if a little energy is all you can muster, just try to join in our little trans community of fun.
What can you expect to see on this blog? Well, fun, duh, I've said that enough. I'll be relating amusing stories and my thoughts, and I'll also be posting about awesome trans performers/artists. Likely I may be posting some stuff not trans-related that I just think is cool and y'all might enjoy. Also, hopefully, you'll also see what you have to offer! If you have stories, jokes, insights, thoughts, videos, whatever to offer, please do send them in and I'd love to post them.
Why the name? Well, I volunteer for this wonderful organization called Black and Pink, a volunteer-run group that connects trans and queer prisoners in the US with pen pals like you and me outside of the prisons. (Check out the website, www.blackandpink.org, to learn more or get a pen pal!) I recently got a letter back from my first pen pal. She said that she didn't want to write about how awful it was being in prison, she wanted to "keep it pink" and talk about positive things. I mean, wow, that's impressive. I thought, if she, a trans woman in a male prison, can keep it pink, so can I (and I was also definitely no question about it adopting that phrase). So here I am, on a blog, keeping it pink for all of you!
Keep it pink, y'all.
Winter
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