MI Joy: But Everything is not all Roses Now

I'm checking in, beloved readers. I am still relieved that the Supreme Court ruled favorably. Yes, relieved. Because administratively, legally, financially, my life just got a lot easier.

But everything is not rosy. I know some of you probably hoped that I would consider this victory enough. Maybe that I would get back to more food posts. Trust me, I hope to.

We've got to talk, though. Because even though my home state now must recognize my marriage, I can still be fired or evicted for being gay in most of the state. I probably won't because I'm privileged and educated and White and middle class, and so I have had the luxury of choosing my employer. Not everyone is so privileged. 

My Trans friends have even less protection and assurance on those fronts, despite the fact that it was the T in LGBT that started Stonewall and kicked off this entire civil rights movement. LGBT youth are more likely than any other group to be homeless, and Trans youth even more than the LGB members. Trans people suffer amounts of violence I cannot even imagine as a Cis person. Never mind as a Cis, White, educated, middle class person. 

I know some recent events have brought the Trans community into the spotlight. A lot of people have a lot of opinions. I'm not really qualified to comment on the issues - I have not studied this community psychologically or medically, I don't identify this way. So I will not launch into policy recommendations. If a Trans friend is reading and sees a correction I need to make, I hope they will message me. 

For some reason, though, people read this. Maybe it's because I'm a unicorn or respectable or vulnerable or any number of other things. I think some people read this who don't necessarily know very much yet and are looking for a place to start. 

And so here is what I will say: I rejoice in this marriage equality victory, but it is so much smaller than we need. It will make my life easier, but I am blessed to be in a position where my life is not at stake. I do not face exceptionally heightened violence and never really have.

Whatever you think morally about the Trans community, whether you understand it or not, the fact is that they do face violence. Regularly. And that is not okay. No matter someone's religious convictions or discomfort level, harming someone bodily is not okay. We need change. We need to care. We need, as people and bystanders and citizens and voters, to say that these lives are worth the same as our own and that we will not stop with this small victory. 

Everything is not roses, but it can be better. It's up to us.