Fuenteovejuna!

 

I was unaware we were at the “having to disclose being related to a trans person” stage of genocide already.

Wait, what? Then I saw what this tweet was referencing.

“Undeclared trans-identified off-spring.” The words gave me a kind of chill, a tingle of dread. I read the tweet again.

I was unaware we were at the “having to disclose being related to a trans person” stage of genocide already.

Then I responded:

If that is true I would like to disclose being related to all trans people.

I didn’t think a lot about it. It came from the heart. If trans people are in danger, then we must all step up to protect them. It starts with me. It was a simple choice.

I wasn’t expecting what came next. First, my tweet: If that is true I would like to disclose being related to all trans people.

Then:

aww! ❤️

Can confirm!

Yeah go back far enough and we’re all related 

Hello relative 👋 

Hello I will see you at the next reunion and bring the potato salad 

Uh oh. We seem to have hit a snag here. Reunion? Potato salad? I thought for a moment.

My potato salad is so-so but would I vouch for my chicken pasta Caesar salad. 🙂

We will love your caesar salad, I will do the potatoes

One hundred and fifteen “likes” later and I had a lot of new family members. My daughter laughed and said, “they looked at your profile and figured you’d be good for potato salad.” (She meant it kindly.) Maybe so. I’m a white, middle class married cisgender heterosexual retired teacher living in suburbia. No argument there.

But I’m also fiercely protective of LGBTQ+plus humans who deserve to be loved, respected,and accepted.  Those of us with any privilege at all are called to take a stand when we see these kinds of hurtful attitudes and behaviors. Trans people are absolutely our family. If we turn our gaze away to avoid the conflict the cost is high. Vulnerable people will be shamed, ostracized, marginalized - - endangered by small-minded hate and aggression.

When I was on a choir tour to Spain in college I was taken to the theatre by my host family in Madrid. The play was “Fuenteovejuna” by Lope de Vega.

Fuenteovejuna is a play by the Spanish playwright Lope de Vega, first published in Madrid in 1619. While under the command of the Order of Calatrava, a commander, Fernán Gómez de Guzmán, mistreated the villagers, who banded together and killed him. When a magistrate sent by King Ferdinand II of Aragon arrived at the village to investigate, the villagers, even under the pain of torture, responded only by saying "Fuenteovejuna did it." (Wikipedia)

“Who is responsible?”

“The town is responsible!”

Everyone in the town united to take a stand against oppression. What would happen if we did that?

What I did was not brave. No one will be banging on my door or putting me to the rack, like the characters in the play. It was, I guess, a kind thing. I simply used the opportunity presented to me to say what I truly believed. I didn’t remain silent, or think, “Wow, that's awful,” and keep on scrolling.

Some families are biological. Some are chosen. We can do so much good by creating family bonds and connections that reach well beyond our small, personal worlds. 

I see you. I hear you. I accept you.

We often bemoan the harms created by social media. But we also have so many opportunities to use it to communicate acceptance and hope.