black text in typewriter font on white background, as a sneak peek of the Being Trans in Philosophy zine, forthcoming in June 2025: Talia Mae Bettcher talks about the WTF of existence—where up becomes down and down becomes up. I can't begin to say how much this captures my experience as a parent of a trans kid right now. My tween is kind, funny, talented, ambitious. He is a shining light that cheers me up every single day. I don't know how anyone could find fault with him, could look into his eyes and see him as anything but authentic, as deserving of love and respect for who he really is.
text continues: When he socially transitioned in the second grade, years ago now, other kids in the class didn't blink an eye. Zero bullying. Now bullies run the show—in dominant online spaces in our discipline, in our state legislature, in the U.S. government. State law bars kids like him from playing sports. It is illegal for him to use the bathroom associated with his gender identity at school. Just last month, my kid lost access to gender-affirming healthcare at our local hospital.
text continues: Still, my child is thriving. Our community is there for us. Each morning that we wake up, go about our day, feels like an act of resistance. Increasingly I find myself staring out the window of my office in the philosophy department, gorgeous mountains rising in the background, crying. It's a lot: sitting with the cruelty, the uncertainty of how far persecution will go, what to do.
“When [my tween] socially transitioned in the second grade, years ago now, other kids in the class didn’t blink an eye. Zero bullying. Now bullies run the show—in dominant online spaces in our discipline, in our state legislature, in the U.S. government.” @beegs1.bsky.social #beingtransinphilosophy
