A personal essay on identity, care, and the people who make dignity possible.
This article includes an optional audio read-aloud for easier accessibility.
Our identities make us who we are. Some identities are chosen and others are not. Still, the more we are in touch with our identities, the closer we come to the person we were meant to be. I hope I’m almost there.
If you are reading this, it probably means you listened to my podcast A Dignified Life Podcast, a three-part episode about gender-affirming care for transgender people in Illinois and Iowa. Please check out my last one here. I wanted to center Illinois and Iowa because both states occupy vastly different political positions, and I wanted to see how that affected the ways in which residents received care. I wanted to find out whether the people — Midwest residents alike — push us toward progress or the state itself.
I learned it’s truly the people driving the progress that the state solidifies.
For me, a dignified life means being able to live as authentically as possible without causing harm to yourself or others. I have always had a hard time seeing people being treated differently because of small things like gender, race, and sexuality. I have also struggled to understand why our government chooses to focus on these things when there are so many pressing matters to attend to. People should be able to go to the bathrooms that align with their gender identity. Forcing people to perform the gender that makes society comfortable and not the one that they internally feel is inhumane. That’s no way to live.
When I say transgender people are dying. I mean it. The Human Rights Campaign reported that at least 23 transgender or gender-expansive people were violently killed. Seventy-eight percent of them were people of color, with the majority being Black women. If they are not being killed, they are being targeted by legislation, in cultural debates, and even by the Trump administration.
Lawmakers are not the majority population in the Midwest, and, despite what they say, they do not always speak for the people. Midwestern values are often kindness, respect, and understanding. Many people in the region oppose anti-trans laws and the dehumanization of transgender people. Across the region, people are building organizations, forming support groups, and showing up to support trans people.
When it comes to the Midwest 3.4% of the youth identify as transgender. In the Central Midwest, every state has some type of transgender organization. Check out the infographic accompanying this essay, you’ll find a few from each state. Click through and you’ll see it — different missions, different resources, but one shared truth: A love for transgender people. And through that love, they find ways to give people the access, dignity, and community they deserve.
Check out the podcast episodes here!
For more information, check out this infographic: