I’ve taken a lifelong vow to protect and defend my trans kin.

Pulling from the Oxford dictionary, ‘Protect’ is defined as an aim to “keep safe from harm or injury” and the definition of ‘defend’ is “resist an attack made on (someone or something); protect from harm or danger”. It is important to note that these two words are both verbs, and a ‘verb’ indicates a multifaceted meaning, including: physical action, mental action, and/or a state of being.

When I say I take this vow, I am saying that I am here multidimensionally for my trans kin. I am saying that I see you for you, and I am grateful that you see me for me. I acknowledge that there are, and will be, days in which your physical appearance does not align with how you feel on the inside - but I will remind you that it does not make you any less trans. And I am thankful you have and will continue to do that for me, too.
I understand that gender-diverse cultures have existed since time immemorial. I understand that as a white settler living and working on stolen lands, just how tied gender binaries are to colonialism and colonial projects. There are people, laws, and broken structures that say we don’t belong nor that we don’t deserve to live, but we do. Trans people have always, and will always, exist.
I am part of an immemorial subculture and I love being trans non-binary. I love that my transness, fatness, Madness, and neurodivergence are all facets that are not only welcomed, but thrive here. I love being a tattooed gender freak clown with a cuddly belly. I love that on days when I experience dysphoria so destructive and mean, that when I go to my trans kin they remind me that this vessel and existence is not a curse. And I will always do the same in return.