“(But) She’s Not Alone…”: A Letter To All Women, Non-Binary, Transgender, and Vulnerable Loves
So how are you? How is life? How is work? Me? Well, I am good….wait, no,that’s a lie. I have been struggling. I have waking up terrified. I have been having fits of fear and rage. I have oscillated between wanting to scream until I pass out or cry until I am a helpless puddle. I have been circling around and around in my head trying to strategize, trying to plot, trying to figure out solutions, all the while wondering if I will ever feel free again.
It has been a week plus some change of reflection, of wondering how not only this country came to this moment, but also how I also journeyed to where I am at. I have reflected on what is creating “safety” for children and young ones, what is empowering individuals, and if there would even be a possibility for relationship with people who so strongly feel otherwise.
I am filled with my own heavy feelings, but I also see so many others near me that feel that pain in sharper more profound ways. I see my BIPOC+, non-binary, and trans siblings going, “well f**k, now you want people to allow you body autonomy when so many of you were silent to our experiences and pain?” I see my sisters (not just cis-sisters) terrified, wondering how the communities that we grew up that said they would fight to protect us never did and voted to give power to people who would gladly harm us. I hear all the screams of survivors that I serve because the world has just given abusive partners new tools to abuse and tie them to them.
I see you, loves. I am with you.
In these past few months (as I do every so often), I have been re-watching the Marvel films. Interestingly enough, Black Widow re-watch fell on the week that the leaked Supreme Court document came out. A woman going back to burn down the oppressive system that had altered her brain chemistry to think that it had her best interest at heart and then empowering others to fight back as well… you know, really chill vibes. As I reflect on the many magical lines in that movie, I flash back to a few movies before, in Infinity War. The teams are fighting back, trying to take back control. One of my favorites of favorites, Scarlett Witch, is knocked down hard, as a villain spits out that she will die alone. Off screen, you hear the voice of Black Widow quietly and calmly say, “(But) She’s not alone” and then the ass kicking occurs.
I have zero clue what the future will hold. I do not know if the future means that I have slowly continue to lose more rights. I do not know if I will be begging my straight cis male partner to marry me so I have a semblance of safety and protection in the world. I do not know if there is a possibility that I will make one wrong move in helping someone and end up in jail, injured, or worse. I do not know what the future holds….
But I do know this…..You, my loves, will never walk alone. You will never stand up to power alone. In 2011, when I heard the word “feminist” for the first time, it never meant to me liberation for only cis white straight women. I know that I will never stop fighting for all voices who have been marginalized and oppressed. I will never believe it is okay for people to have zero control over their own bodies and loves. I stand with every woman, every non-binary individual, every transgender love, every man, etc. who has had their voice ripped out. You are not alone. I am with you to the end.
