Rain of Change (at Cal State University Long Beach's April 29th Rally for Trans Man Who Was Carved With a Knife)

Rain of Change

As Trans people, we have an authentic self that drives one to endure and largely overcome the incredible task of connecting… courageously crossing the rift between our true inner being with that of the outer shell; We were put on this earth to teach the aforementioned and to teach that a nerve… a nerve exists which prompts one to rise up, against mass selfish control of who we really are by a status quo inundated with a dinosaur-like sense of reality, an astounding and ...beautiful gift!

Because of that and other reasons, we are different, that difference causes fear which turns to hate, which then morphs into a self - assigned license to hurt us, to kill us… US.. as a valid sector of human society whose only crime if you will, is to have the audacity to align our brains with our body… to live an authentic life as much as possible, rather than sink into a smothering socially mandated existence. This infuriates a plethora of people, particularly the ones who have no compunction about not only beating and mutilating us… but to want to take our lives as well!
This attack did not happen because of theft, this did not happen due to a personal fight over a lover, nor was it RANDOM! We all know that the person who carried out this horrible assault.. called the victim over, a kind Trans man who only wanted to attend class.. by his NAME!

I know the man who was attacked; I’ve worked side by side with him, educating people just like you in a musty, box of a lecture hall. When I found who was assaulted, with the word "IT" sliced into his chest, I cried…

Whenever a Trans person is hurt, killed or beaten in a hate driven attack I feel it deeply, whenever a Trans person is unjustly discriminated against on a job she had fought sooo hard to get, it's like a bat to my stomach... whenever a young Trans child is brutally bullied and assaulted in any way, my bosom and soul cry out in immense agony - I feel like a mother and close sister to all of them... just as I feel for anyone else, woman, straight, gay or lesbian… who would suffer if it were visited upon them…

This attack was designed to send a message, to try to teach us to hide, run back inside and live our lives according to a rigid, inhuman status quo that ignores our cries when we are beaten and our flesh carved into, with one syllable messages. A deaf ear of that status quo, is turned to our pleas for support and equal protection when it is politically advantageous to do so…

BUT do you know what? A Trans Storm is coming; the clouds have been forming, billowing above a prairie-plain of hate, ignorance and indifference… No more, no more… NO MORE… can we just sit by and take an abuse that should have been addressed long ago. Oppressors, those who sit on the sidelines in some type of wide eyed neutral curiosity, those who support us as Trans people, only in times of political need…

guess what..

An awakening rain storm of education, of our collective Trans voices, our irresistible, justified call for change is now cascading down upon this world. NO MORE… no more… no more, no! Disrespect, Transgender phobia, oppression of us and our identities must NOT stand – IT CAN NOT STAND, IT WILL NOT STAND FOR LONG.

We as Trans people have more than grown tired over the years, bombarded with empty promises of equality and safety extended to us in the hope that we are lulled to sleep like so much hypnotized sheep being shoved off of a steep cliff. But we are still here! Heaven said almighty, we are STILL here. With hearts filled with determination, with a courage that cannot bend to any Misogynist, Trans phobic, Homo phobic bullies will.

We can begin to stimulate change, even if it’s in baby steps – at least with a truly sincere alliance among ourselves here, that is possible.