Trans Pride: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
By: Deja Nicole Greenlaw/TRT Columnist
Saturday, June 7, 2008 is the first ever Transgender Pride for the area. The feelings of Pride are rising and it wonderful that my brothers and sisters are taking their Pride to the streets!
Having a Trans Pride does bring the Trans issues to the public. The public gets to see us who are Transgender and they can talk to us and listen to us and discover that us Transpeople are just like anyone else and we deserve all of the rights that everyone else has. Yes, they will get to finally meet that Transgender person next door! And they very well may even like us!
I am so happy that Transpeeps are willing to come to the forefront. They are now ready to be seen and heard and loved!
Yes, it is indeed an event that was a long time coming. For too long most of us stayed deep in our closets whether it's the denial closet—where we were scared to death of coming out and we had major issues dealing with shame and embarrassment and denial because we do not want to be "found out" by others—or it's the stealth closet where we have finally made our transition to the other gender, but are once again scared to death that we will be "found out" thus denying that we ever were the original gender. It's like going from one closet to the other! But times have changed and it is getting to be ok to admit that you are Transgender. On June 7th there will be many who are way more than ok but are actually proud to be Transgender!
I entered the Trans Community in 2001 and I watched and listened to my "older" brothers and sisters. I saw where they were coming from and what they had to deal with. In those 7 years I learned a lot and have seen a lot change for the better. In a lot of cases, we no longer have to stay in our closets. We can finally be free to be who we are. And let me tell you, it is an incredible sense of peace that we find when we finally transition and it is heightened immeasurably if we are "Out". Once you are Out you no longer have to hide or cover up tracks or feel unsure etc. That's breaking out of not one, but two closets at once!
And why shouldn't we come out and be who we are? I really believe in Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence when he wrote of "...Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Why shouldn't we pursue our happiness? I realize that there are others who do not want us to pursue our happiness and they may call us crazy or deviant or sinful or whatever. What right do they have to stop us from our unalienable right to pursuit of Happiness? I don't believe that they have that right.
No, they do not have that right but we do have ours!
So on Saturday June 7th there will be cries of Pride, feelings of peace and understanding and love. There will be smiles and hugs and joys and a feeling of Pride that most have never felt before. It will be a great day for Transgenders and we invite you to share it with us!
By: Deja Nicole Greenlaw/TRT Columnist
Saturday, June 7, 2008 is the first ever Transgender Pride for the area. The feelings of Pride are rising and it wonderful that my brothers and sisters are taking their Pride to the streets!
Having a Trans Pride does bring the Trans issues to the public. The public gets to see us who are Transgender and they can talk to us and listen to us and discover that us Transpeople are just like anyone else and we deserve all of the rights that everyone else has. Yes, they will get to finally meet that Transgender person next door! And they very well may even like us!
I am so happy that Transpeeps are willing to come to the forefront. They are now ready to be seen and heard and loved!
Yes, it is indeed an event that was a long time coming. For too long most of us stayed deep in our closets whether it's the denial closet—where we were scared to death of coming out and we had major issues dealing with shame and embarrassment and denial because we do not want to be "found out" by others—or it's the stealth closet where we have finally made our transition to the other gender, but are once again scared to death that we will be "found out" thus denying that we ever were the original gender. It's like going from one closet to the other! But times have changed and it is getting to be ok to admit that you are Transgender. On June 7th there will be many who are way more than ok but are actually proud to be Transgender!
I entered the Trans Community in 2001 and I watched and listened to my "older" brothers and sisters. I saw where they were coming from and what they had to deal with. In those 7 years I learned a lot and have seen a lot change for the better. In a lot of cases, we no longer have to stay in our closets. We can finally be free to be who we are. And let me tell you, it is an incredible sense of peace that we find when we finally transition and it is heightened immeasurably if we are "Out". Once you are Out you no longer have to hide or cover up tracks or feel unsure etc. That's breaking out of not one, but two closets at once!
And why shouldn't we come out and be who we are? I really believe in Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence when he wrote of "...Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Why shouldn't we pursue our happiness? I realize that there are others who do not want us to pursue our happiness and they may call us crazy or deviant or sinful or whatever. What right do they have to stop us from our unalienable right to pursuit of Happiness? I don't believe that they have that right.
No, they do not have that right but we do have ours!
So on Saturday June 7th there will be cries of Pride, feelings of peace and understanding and love. There will be smiles and hugs and joys and a feeling of Pride that most have never felt before. It will be a great day for Transgenders and we invite you to share it with us!
