Mastodawn

Just out: my photo essay, in collab with photographer Jesse Freidin, who documents the lives of young #trans kids. He shared 7 powerful portraits of young #transgender Texans.

Jesse told me: “I want to tell those stories before they disappear, before these families leave the country or state, before these families have to go underground.”

This story is incredibly important to me, and all of us at Texas Observer too. This was published in the November/December issue of our magazine, and now available online in time for Trans Awareness Week: https://www.texasobserver.org/trans-kids-youth-are-you-ok-photos/

#LGBTQIA #Texas #children

(I'm concealing the photos because they contain eye contact, but I really hope you will look if you can, these are powerful photos of young people being themselves, and part of me wishes I didn't have to CW them)

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Kit O'Connell Nov 18, 2022

Y'all I look at these kids, my heart fills up, my eyes get teary and I know I'd do anything I can to protect them (& their families) from harm. We gotta fight, and fight harder than we have been, for #trans kids. They deserve our protection.

I'm honestly ashamed of the journalists that are choosing now, of all times, to "what if" these kids lives and their rights, instead of elevating their stories.

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Kit O'Connell Nov 18, 2022

If you're able, look these kids in the eyes and tell me they don't know who they are. I know what I see on their faces. That's part of what made Jesse's work so special here.

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OkraMonk Nov 19, 2022

@kitoconnell absolutely beautiful.

It boggles the mind why anyone would want to harm these kids or their families. Give these precious children their childhood back! Let them spend it in the identity they choose. Is that so much to ask?

Trans kids must be protected at all costs.

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