First
Pride on the Page Day #5
Each of the mini-essays I’m publishing for the month of June are part of a creative challenge to share joy during Pride. You can find out more in the link below. You can even participate, if you’d like!
5. First
They say that seeing yourself reflected in your elected officials is a big deal. Wasn’t I already represented by all those white people in every office all over the damn place? Shouldn’t I have felt happy and seen and powerful having those politicians working to uphold my rights?
But I was the kid in elementary school who refused to recite the pledge of allegiance because I knew deep down that it was not written for someone like me.
Zooey Zephyr was the first transgender politician I saw. And then I heard about Sarah McBride. And Danica Roem. And James Roesener. And Stephanie Byers. And Mauree Turner. And Leigh Finke. And SJ Howell. And Brion Curran.
And now I know I have some current history to get caught up on, because that list is longer than I realized.
Your trans friend,
Robin
Where I live, there was recently an election for a school board trustee. One of the people running was an openly bigoted anti-LGBTQ woman. Another was a trans man who ran on a sane and responsible platform, as a human being should. He trounced her fully and completely. It was amazing.
Robin,
Reading your reflection, I felt something settle in me. I didn’t grow up with a pledge of allegiance. Here in Germany, such rituals would have clashed too deeply with our past. So I never had to stand in a classroom and say words that claimed to include me while clearly excluding so many.
Still, I recognize the knowing you describe—the early, steady sense that the world was written for someone else. And the quiet strength it takes to honor that knowing, even as a kid.
The names you gathered feel like stars—guiding lights I wish had been visible sooner. You reminded me that this history is still unfolding, still growing, still stretching wide enough to hold us. And your voice is part of that constellation.