Published March 24, 2025
International Transgender Day of Visibility is a week from today. I have things planned. We’ll see what my body, mind and heart have to say about that.
I wanted to share this story from The Advocate with you. (Not the newspaper I worked for called The Advocate, the one where bosses sometimes wouldn’t allow me, a columnist, to “advocate” for certain things. No, this is from the LGBTQ publication.)
I love this lead-in to the story: In her family practice, Dr. Carolyn Wolf-Gould cares for people, not ideologies.
I hope you find the story enlightening and helpful.
We love it when someone gets it
As a cisgender woman, I don’t know what it feels like to experience gender dysphoria. I also don’t know how it feels to be ninety or to work from a wheelchair. I don’t have diabetes or a porcine valve in my heart. I do have experience worrying about my children, but they were adopted. I don’t know how it feels to be pregnant or what it’s like to labor and bring a child like Bella into the world.
No matter. I can still be a doctor. I listen to and trust my patients when they tell me about their experiences.
She also writes:
Transgender individuals have lived in our world since ancient times. They existed long before Trump was born and will continue to thrive beyond his midterms.
That’s for all the people who think we’re a “social contagion.” No, we are not a love of pumpkin spice everything.
This is all I have for you. Oh, and this request: Please call it by its name, Transgender Day of Visibility. It’s not Transgender Visibility Day. That might seem nitpicky, but when you live among people who can’t be bothered to get your name right, your gender right or any of the other details right, you want them to get something right.
If someone intentionally gets it wrong to “own the libs,” all I can say is what a miserable life they must be living.
I hope this finds you well, as the saying goes. I am not well, and I’m barely visible most days, but for now I’m still here.
Sending love.
Image by DETHAL via Shutterstock.
♥
Thank you for reading
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And some bonus reading
WIRED tested the popular AI video generator from OpenAI and found that it amplifies sexist stereotypes and ableist tropes, perpetuating the same biases already present in AI image tools.
— WIRED (@wired.com) March 23, 2025 at 3:09 AM
And finally:
your honor, i was just taking a peaceful tour of that tesla dealership
— illumi (@illumi.meme) March 23, 2025 at 7:23 AM