I’m Not Like You or Am I?
Janet: Trauma is not exclusive to women or men, but in the LGBTQ community it is different only because we label it that way, and when we label, we de-humanize.
You may wonder why we are linking the horror of the Uvalde, TX tragedy. Beginning in the hours after the elementary school massacre, social media churned out “The shooter was an illegal immigrant! No, he was transgender!” A person tweeted that the gunman was “a transsexual leftist illegal alien.”
The stats we use are 1-4 women, and 1-in 6 men. But…
According to The Williams Institute at UCLA
“LGBT people are nearly four times more likely than non-LGBT people to experience violent victimization, including rape, sexual assault, and aggravated or simple assault.” https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/ncvs-lgbt-violence-press-release/
Marie: Most of us weren’t witness to the beatings and humiliation suffered in the LGBTQ community during the 1960’s. Now, when we read about the denial and the cover up, the hiding and the shame, we can’t imagine the backlash suffered by a gay or trans human, but what we can imagine is ‘human.’ As individuals, humans suffer abuse and assault from the ones who hate, have power, and think “we” are the source of their problems and must be eliminated or taught a lesson.
Janet: The legal way I reported my assault felt justified. I felt strong and righteous, yet I was still ignored. RAINN points out that people who report, from the LGBTQ community, experience:
Not feeling believed or worrying that you won’t be believed.
Feeling shame, guilt, or like it is your fault
You may feel that you are the only person who has been through sexual assault or worry that others will judge or misunderstand if you tell them.
You may face disbelief that sexual violence affects LGBTQ people.
It can be hard to self-identify as a survivor. If the assault does not fit your idea of what sexual violence looks like or who may be involved with it.
Telling someone might be harder if you are not out yet
You may not find support in some faith communities.
Wait – that’s a lot of what I felt when faced with the decision to report or not report as a cis female. We wanted to know more…
Interview with Arien Reed: TBD waiting for approval
Arien Alana Reed, MFA, a pushcart nominee writer, an award-winning, multi-media artist who paints other trans people, a board member of Trans-E-Motion, and the lead organizer of "Fresno & Online Writers' Workshops" on Eventbrite. Their unpublished collections have been finalists for the Kore Press, Grayson Books, Press 53, and Inlandia poetry prizes, and their works have been published in Oberon, Florida Review, New South, Sonora Review, High Shelf Press, Allegory Ridge, and others.
OSV: Thank you for the interview. Will you please tell us something about yourself?
AR: Well, I’m a writer, a poet, and an artist
OSV: What do people misunderstand about you?
AR: I’m pretty open with most of the people who know me, but across the board, whatever is misunderstood about me is basically the same as every trans person can say. A lot of people mix up sex, gender, and identity expression. Some say, ‘but that’s how you were born,’ and ‘that’s what you are.’ My gender identity and what I was born with are two different things.
OSV: When you write about your story what stops you, if you are stopped at all?
AR: The main one I struggle with is knowing the people in my life are still alive, and they keep reading what I write. I don’t want them to feel bad for not knowing what was going on. We need to let the next generation know it’s a common thread. It is important for the world to hear the stories.
Janet: I’m breathless. It’s undeniable we have labels for ourselves and others, but some labels are targets. Queer was illegal, female means “easy” or should be “tapped”, young men are “small” or “weak” and are labels that can be actualized.
Our truth, when we dare to finally tell it, is loud. It’s fierce and it’s brave.
How hard do we have to be pushed to activate it?
Now we know what to do – and it’s for all of us.
Volunteer, take action to gain insight and appreciation of this beautiful community.
Watch the full Talk About It interview with Arien Reed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIUlIRjfQys