The Woodwork

I’ve been thinking about writing this for some time, especially as the world is being turned upside down (the drinking song the progressives of the U.S. are singing as we retreat). The times are far too interesting and only that I live in one of the two most liberal areas in one of the most liberal of states makes me feel mildly less traumatized than I might otherwise feel as a trans woman with full Jewish bloodlines.

But here’s the thing. I’m not out in the world fighting the good fight for trans rights and I’m not out in the world fighting the good fight for my tribe. I don’t go to meetings or meet-ups or parades or memorials (Mostly because I have a real issue with crowds and control. I have no control in those environments and in order to be in a position to have some kind of control, I would have to sacrifice my already limited time, time that I value with my very immediate family and a very limited number of others). While I am politically engaged, I am not politically active, nor do I foresee myself ever being so.

Most of my life’s work is tied to my job as an educator. I like to think that by virtue of being an out queer trans woman and highly visible to the students at my school and to the school community at large given the relatively public nature of my assignment as the Theatre Arts teacher, I am doing good service for the cause and that should be enough at the end of the day.

As much as I admire the folks who are bravely out in front of things, I don’t want to be one of them. For one, I think it would be disruptive to my…