BABC reads "Trans Kids, Our Kids"
Join us Mon Oct 27 to look past the headlines and hear stories from the frontlines to support trans kids and families
I’ve spent much of the last four weeks in perpetual motion, even the stillness was relative given that it occurred at 30,000+ feet in a horizontal skyscraper. And at every destination, I set up a little Being Alive Book Club library bedside to keep me grounded. Good company.
This month, we’re reading Trans Kids, Our Kids — a remarkable narrative and advocacy project written in support of trans kids and their families. In the words of the co-authors, members of the Campaign for Southern Equality, the book was written to
uplift the voices and stories of young trans people who are caught in the middle of the worst cultural polarization we’ve seen in our lifetimes—and who also, because of both their age and their trans identities, experience the very definition of political powerlessness.
Over the course of several months in 2024, CSE interviewed over fifty individuals across nineteen states to paint a picture of the extraordinary effort required to connect trans kids with care. It’s one thing to read yet another headline of a state/agency/provider cutting access to care; it’s much more visceral to read the stories of what happens next when families travel great lengths (metaphorical and geographical) to support their kids.
“We went from a fifty-five dollar copay at the office down the street to having to book two flights, a hotel room, and take Jaxon out of school. It went from a fifty-five dollar copay to a $2,000 nightmare.”
And, it’s not just happening in the South anymore. Those of us anxiously paying taxes in bluer states are no longer immune to this retraction in coverage. Last week Boston’s legendary queer healthcare provider Fenway Health preemptively halted care for patients under 19 to comply with federal funding requirements. Ooof.
This Monday, October 27th, co-authors Alexis Stratton and Adam Polaski will join the Being Alive Book Club on Zoom (8p ET / 5p PT) to discuss the stories from Trans Kids, Our Kids, along with their current services and strategies supporting trans kids and families. The conversation is open to all (even non-readers!), and given the subject matter, we will adjust our discussion to include any kids who want to attend.
Looking forward to seeing you Monday,
xx Kyle
Words to Live By
“I lived a long life without ever imagining the government could ever tell me something about my life and who I was. And I think this moment is asking, at least for me, to go back to that knowing…our interior condition is everything and our strategies actually have to reflect not just the structures and systems, not just the policy wins that are so desprately needed, but shifting our interior condition and how we understand ourselves.” — Tourmaline
An American Tail-gate 🚚🏳️⚧️🤶🌴
Did you know that there are estimated to be as many as 90k trans women driving big-rig trucks in the U.S.?!
An award-winning queer and trans film team is raising funds to shoot Ashleigh, a 24-year-old trans woman truck driver, as she crosses the country en route to a trucker LGBTQ+ trucker holiday party in Florida. (!!!) Click through to their donation page to learn more about the film and the team capturing this very American story.
Good read 👏🏽