trans people are visible in defiance of powerful forces that seek to destroy us. sometimes we choose this, in order to fight back and light the way for others. many other times we do not, but visibility becomes a requirement for our survival

visibility saves us, but it can also destroy us, and the prominent and vulnerable among us get singled out and picked off one by one by the whirlwind of hatred and intolerance that threatens to consume us all

each one of us has to calculate along the axes of our own personal privilege how much visibility we can afford, how much is necessary, and how much we think can get away with before we too are in danger of being destroyed. it's not an easy calculation for anyone to make

so i guess what i'm saying is, don't take this lightly. it's not just fun selfies and trans joy. we are fighting for our collective survival and the stakes could not be higher

and if you're cis, today is a good day to donate to trans mutual aid campaigns, and reflect on how often we are forced to put ourselves at great personal risk just to survive

#tdov