I love that queer youth today are more visible and more comfortable than I was growing up, as I wasn't able to come out until after college.

I’m seeing people able to be themselves as youth. They’re being able to take puberty blockers that prevent the mental anguish of having your body change in ways that don't fit you.

The debate against trans youth is really painful and stressful to watch. I see something I find very beautiful in these kids being who they are, and then I see them being denied being able to play the sport they love and being denied from accessing the community that comes with it.

I see their legitimacy questioned through debates on ‘winning’ and first off, nobody is going through a transition just to be better at sports than women. That's not a thing.

Anybody who thinks it is, I encourage you to try one electrolysis session. I encourage you to look into what hormones do to your body and to you too emotionally. I encourage you to experience the physical and emotional discomfort of a transition and you will very quickly realize that nobody's doing that to take your daughter's spot on the women's team. That is not happening.

What access to sports does do though is that it saves lives. It saves the lives of these kids who disproportionately harm themselves, and that is worth a spot on a high school swim team any day of the week.

To trans kids today, I'd say "We see you. We love you. We are not going to stop fighting for you. You matter and you're important."

And if I could travel back in time, I would tell my younger self, “You get there. You get to be yourself. You're going to find what you're looking for."

[To be continued under ‘Support’]