About a month ago, a dear friend gifted me a zine that put into words, and graphics, so many of the things I’ve experienced and loved about being trans but haven’t quite found the language for. The zine is called “Transness Is Our Salve.” The zine brings together years of research and community collaboration, and was compiled by researchers and therapists Joonwoo Lee and Sebastian Barr, with artwork by Britchida. 

One of the remarkable things about this zine is that it shows how transness and the possibilities transness opens up helped participants the two researchers interviewed heal from the wounds of parental trauma. So often transness is linked to, and sometimes used to explain, the realities of experiencing relational or parental trauma. But what happens when we view transness not as a reason for trauma but as a mode of healing from trauma?

For many of the people interviewed, the process of coming out was often accompanied by establishing their own values, “different from restrictive family narratives about who one can be.” I share a similar experience — living in my full self around gender allowed me to recognize I was also able to live into new ways of being and values beyond gender. Once one wall came down, it was so much easier to see that the other walls in my life were human creations I inherited and could play with.

On Trans Day of Remembrance, a day we remember and honor the trans lives taken by political and personal violence, and by time and natural causes, I want to think about the ways in which transness serves to keep me safe. How does it connect me deeper to my body, to community I love and trust, and to the reality of every person’s inherent worth and dignity?

You can see the full zine here! 

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