One of the things I get mildly irritated about and have been throughout my transition journey is when fellow transpeople either run like Flo Jo away from my presence or consciously avoid interacting with me in public situations. While I understand that some of my transpeeps can be antisocial at times, and others are so adamant about maintaining their stealth bubble to the point they want zero public interactions with any transpeople, it still wouldn't kill you to say hello and keep steppin'.
If you're 'scurred' because you think that being in proximity to my out and proud of being Black and trans behind will lead to people questioning your gender identity, chill.
The cisgender women friends I have in my life have that same possibility of shade being thrown at them just for the radical act of being proud to have me as their friend and be seen with me in public. If it doesn't deter them from getting to know me, what's your excuse?
If my cisgender girlfriends and cisgender male friends realize it's one of the tradeoffs for having the Phenomenal Transwoman in their lives on an everyday basis and they aren't ashamed or afraid of it, then why should my own transpeeps be?
It's especially galling in light of the slings and arrows I constantly take being the sword and shield for you. I'm fighting for yours and my civil rights that you are too timid to stand up for. I'm dispelling through this blog and other myriad education efforts the falsehoods and race based myths regurgitated about you. I'm taking the time to 'ejumacate' people about how our transitions are different from vanilla flavored ones. I'm cheerfully and willingly spending my personal time, cash and vacation time in doing that trans education simply so that future generations of transkids can just focus on being the best people they can be.
I'm not asking for a chocolate chip cookie. All I'm asking for is just a simple "Hi, how are you doing?" when I pass you in the 'hood.
If you want to take the conversation beyond that, that's all good as well. The more loyal friends I have in my life, the better.
But I'm not the person you should be 'scurred' of. The peeps you should be keeping a nervous eyeball on are part of the Forces of Intolerance.
I'm the one that's diligently working to make your life better, not harder.
