Transgender Remembrance Day

http://www.transgenderdor.org/

Hey there.
Did anyone ever tell you that sometimes people are born into the wrong body? It happens. It happens and for the ones it happens to there can seem to be no safe harbor. I imagine what being in a world so very wrong that simply taking a pee felt like cutting my heart out--because I had to do it with the wrong parts and in the wrong bathroom--screaming soundlessly as people around me constantly called me by the wrong pronoun and the weight of the whole flipping world crushed down on me...

I don't live there.

But someone I love does, and his journey has been impossibly hard and dangerous. In fact, I can scarcely believe he has made it so far in his journey. He tried to stop the world and get off not so very long ago.
my heart aches to write those words
He barely made it here to my home. I have so little to give to my brother, but what I do have? Is his. We're family, and families, one's worthy of the name whether they be families born or families chosen love and protect and support. Full stop.

So today?
If you know somewhere in your heart that you are in the wrong body?
Or even if you're just questioning your truth?
I've got a few things to say to you, baby.

Stay safe.
I mean when you play (and you older teens know exactly what I mean) use protection.
If the place you're in feels unsafe, get the hell out.
Find someone --and baby, they're out there--who will love and support you just as you are.
Get informed.
There are resources.
There are doctors and friends and support groups.
You don't have to tell anybody your truth until YOU are ready to.
And baby, please don't until you know you have a safe harbor.
I'm gonna leave a list of places that should be able to help you.
Just remember that people *yes, every damn one of us* are foolish sometimes. Scared by what we don't understand and needlessly hurtful toward what we fear.

So if you reach out for help and the straight person you ask rejects you--shame on them, baby, not you.
If you reach out for help, and the LGBTQQ person you ask rejects you--shame on them, never ever on you.
The second should damn well know better.
Keep reaching.
There are folk who will help.
There is information out here for you.
Who you are is who you are and it's more than okay, it's beautiful.
I'll get off my preaching platform now, and put up the list of resources...and tell you that if you can't find something to help you, if you'll just drop me a line I will try to find someone who can help you. A resource you can use, and if I can, a number you can dial.
And if you know a good resource, please leave a link to it in your reply. Cause someone else may need that info to save their life.

That's all.
Except to tell you that one day?
Transgender Remembrance Day will be a day to celebrate, not one to mourn.

Information:
A blog post by someone who has walked in the same brand of shoes as you.
http://supermattachine.wordpress.com/

A list of resources by my TwitterPal, Brandon Shire:
http://brandonshire.com/lgbt-youth-organizations/

And of course, The Trevor Project. 
http://www.thetrevorproject.org/

I will look for more resources. And remember, if you find them, I'd love to hear about them here so I can share them with whoever stumbles into this little corner of acceptance.

Be brave.
Reach out for acceptance and understanding.
I promise it's out there.
I know it's here on this blog.
And I know you can carve a place out for yourself in this crazy world.
My brother did.