No Gender November №8: Pretty Strong

Meet the world record setting powerlifter who always wanted to be strong and to be a woman.

Note: This is part of the November 2018 “No Gender November” portrait series on my 6yo’s lunch notes. Follow along and learn non-binary with me!
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When I asked Max what he thought about this picture of Janae Marie Kroc, he said “Why is she lifting weights?” I explained she wants to be strong. Then I asked a more sexist question “Max, do you think she’s pretty?” His answer “Pretty strong.” 💜

Meet Janae Kroc. Marine, world record setting power lifter, father of three and the subject of the documentary Transformer (available on iTunes ). It’s an unbelievable and yet sadly familiar story to the queer folks I know. Janae always wanted two things, to be strong and to be a woman. She’s fought something she didn’t understand and the shame that came with it her whole life. Being a multidimensional person in a binary world drove both her hyper masculinity and thoughts of suicide. It also gave her the strength to be herself as displayed in this beautiful film.

She’s fortunate because attempted suicides are dramatically higher among transgenders vs. the general population. 41% of trans Americans attempt suicide at least once in their lives. Among both the greatest risk and protective factors are discrimination and the social support of family. The more representation and language we develop societally to create supportive communities, the less statistics we need. Janae has put a new personification into the lingua franca of our times. Pretty strong indeed. 💜