Queer People Shouldn’t Have To Suffer To Be Taken Seriously

For the longest time, you were more likely to know a trans person because they had died than lived. The names of dead trans women, men, and enbys have hung in the air for my entire adult life. People like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Xtravaganza" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Venus Xtravaganza</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Teena" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Brandon Teena</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islan_Nettles" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Islan Nettles</a> have been a part of my community’s history: a reminder of what this society does to people that go against the grain. These people deserve to be remembered — I am thankful to know their names, even though it's painful — but there is something that has always bothered me about how we use their names as a shield against attack. We point to these people who our anti-queer society has harmed as an argument for our own autonomy. “You hurt us,” I hear us say. “Acknowledge our pain.” <a href="https://medium.com/prismnpen/queer-people-shouldnt-have-to-suffer-to-be-taken-seriously-fa1cbc30ba2f">Website</a>