Post

been thinking about my queer friends and fam a lot this week. the inauguration, the hard right shift in the tech bubble. I have two moms and a trans dad. I grew up in the 80s in oregon, when there were aggressive anti-gay measures on the ballots. (me at portland pride with my moms in the 80s)

I was a kid, so I had trouble understanding the ballot measures. I knew my mom was a teacher, and that some people thought gay people shouldn’t teach. Those people thought gay people shouldn’t adopt, and I didn’t really understand that, so I thought it meant they might take me from my mom.

But yesterday… I found myself missing it? I miss it when of COURSE major corporations give their ERGs money for a float, it’d be corporate suicide not to support gay rights. I thought — trans rights are coming too, the arc of the universe is bending linearly towards justice.

And that was foolish of course. Progress doesn’t come linearly. But damn, it stings to realize I feel a little less safe talking about my family today than I did 10 years ago.

So fuck it. I’m gonna tell the internet about my family. My dad was trans. He transitioned when I was young, and became a sweet, calm old man. I didn’t think much of it. He told me he felt more like a man. He took up gardening. He calmed down. We learned to shave together. He loved his grandkids.