All Trans Adults Were Kids Once

Trans Youth Deserve Gender Affirming Healthcare

by Caitlin Blunnie (@liberaljane on Instagram)

All trans adults were kids once

We knew who we were then too

But no one listened or believed us

Puberty was a hellscape

I had to navigate

I cried over my developing body

Widening like the chasm in my chest

Gravity drawing me

Until I plummeted in

No one listened or believed me

So I grew up at rock bottom

A self I couldn’t reconcile with

A stranger staring back at me

With a sick face

A waking nightmare I shuddered

To bring to light of day

Nightmares eventually pass

But not everyone survives the night

I don’t know if I’m going to survive

They are calling for genocide

Systemic murder

Of the most marginalized

Scapegoated to distract the majority

From stark reality

We live under the thumb of fascism

A surveillance police state

If we don’t act we will be crushed

With the full force of capitalism's fist

Our lives mean everything

But nothing at all

Blown out just as soon as we're lit

All trans adults were kids once

Will you let us grow up?

Or will you weave our fate

From the crib

Littered with obstacles

And destined for an early grave?

I'll flirt with fate then fuck it

Seduce a couple more years

Over drinks

Grasp at every chance to make it

To my next birthday

Three decades of survival

Can grant us the title of Trans Elder

Our life threads cut short

With shrewd precision

No need to waste a spool of yarn

On our sorry souls

But our spirits can't be extinguished

As far as I'm aware

On a different, brighter

Plane of existence

Where our wicks burn on

We live forever

Artist unknown

---

If you learned something or just appreciate my writing, you can tip me at paypal.me/zoeadunning or cash.app/$zoeadunnin.