I will be 20 years and one day old by the time this is published.
For most people, this is not a big deal. However, for a transgender kid who never thought he would make it to 16, let alone 20, this is a huge deal. I surpassed the average age for the people of my identity and did it successfully. Not only am I alive—but I’m happy. I am surrounded by loving, genuine people. I get to follow my dreams of being an arts journalist. I was the assistant designer for a classical play here at Hamline. This is a big deal.
In the media, transgender people are often depicted as sad, miserable and unsuccessful. You only hear about the hardships. You only hear about the suicides, the murders and the assaults. Those stories are important, but so are the good ones.
My TikTok For You Page is filled with a variety of trends. However, my favorite one has been sparked by the musician Izzy Heltai with his song 25. The lyrics to 25 are, “But I was just another queer kid and I thought that I’d be dead by the time that I turned 20 / guess I’m pushing all my luck living past my life expectancy cause trans kids normally don’t get this far.” This song has given room to an absolutely beautiful trend that reflects the success stories of hundreds of transgender people.
The videos under the sound are filled with transgender men of all ages, ranging from 19 to 45, showing themselves when they first came out and then now. This is a testament to the idea that transgender people can live long, fulfilling lives much to the contrary belief of the media.
This would not be possible without your vote. You do not have to agree with all of Kamala Harris’s views, in general, you should never agree with all of a politician’s views due to the power dynamic between the average, aristocratic politician and a working-class American.
When you vote for Harris, you are voting to protect the transgender kids in red states.
I have noticed a distinct trend with young people who come from safe-haven states and cities, such as the Twin Cities, where they abstain from voting because they know that they will remain safe inside the comfort of their blue life. There is nothing wrong with living in a safe-haven state and feeling comfortable enough to trust your local politicians. However, it is selfish.
There are times when I feel as if I am going crazy when discussing politics with people from blue states, especially coming from someone who was born and raised in Nebraska, a famously red state with a tiny blue dot known as Omaha. Although I always say I am from Omaha, the reality is that I am from a tiny suburb in the Omaha Metro area named Papillion.
Papillon was not and is still not a haven. It was terrifying coming out as a transgender man at my middle school. I was barely 13 when I had to analyze what spaces I could ask a teacher to call me by my last name, rather than my dead name, to alleviate as much dysphoria as I possibly could in this academic setting.
Despite switching to a safer high school in a different school district in a more traditionally blue area of Nebraska, I still was not safe. It was a battle to be respected by teachers and peers. Honestly, one of the only reasons I was as respected as I was was because my stepmother taught at my high school. Of course, that did not stop all of the disrespect and blatant transphobia that came from my peers, the teachers and other staff at my high school.
This is not meant to seem as if I am trying to get pity or sympathy from you. I am not; I survived those four years and came out a better, more passionate and confident person than I would have otherwise. Yet, some kids did not.
I had transgender peers who dropped out because they were unsafe because they were assaulted in the bathrooms or were belittled by teachers for asking for baseline respect. Their stories are not obscure or new; it is the norm when it comes to existing as a transgender or gender non-conforming person. The suicide rate for transgender people is high. Hundreds of transgender kids die each year due to living in unsafe conditions filled with bigotry and ruled by red politicians who spew nothing but hate and propaganda. By not voting, you are directly giving these hateful politicians another vote.
I beg for you all to think about the transgender boys hiding in rural Nebraska during conversations on Brandon Teena, the black transgender girls killed in the Bayous of Louisiana, and the non-binary kid being assaulted in the bathrooms of their Alabama middle school when you vote.
Their blood is on your hands when you abstain from voting.