Sisters of Trans Experience

People are people and a human being is a human being. All of us have red blood running through our veins and the things that make us all different are personality, our race, religion, and how we identify ourselves as a woman or a man.

Living with HIV has broadened my understanding

I can be honest: there was a time when I was judgemental about other people, but I feel it was because I wasn’t happy with who I was. As the years went by, I learned a lot about life and the life of many other individuals. I became the person I was supposed to be and I learned that loving everyone made me love myself even more.

I've met some really great people

Living with HIV has made me so humble and understanding. I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world. I have met some amazing people over the course of 5 years that I love so much.

Why be judgemental of people of trans experience?

Who am I or anyone else to use judgment about how a person identifies? I have so many sisters in advocacy who are women of trans experience and they are living with HIV as well. Spending time with my sisters, talking, and learning about what they have been through is very heartbreaking. Do you think a person wants to be tormented, abused, bullied, turned away from getting work and treated like someone who doesn’t exist in this so-called world of ours? I think not.

I also know that being who we are is a feeling deep within us. Some may say it’s satan or that the Bible doesn’t agree, but God is the only judge of all of us; it’s not for you or me to do that. I say carry on with your sad way of looking at another human. A person who has feelings, who love and who care just like anyone else.

Trans women are apart of my family

Living with HIV is hard enough, but to be ridiculed for identifying as a woman is hurtful. My sisters of trans experience are part of my family. We may not be blood, but you don’t have to be blood to be family. When they hurt, I hurt and when they cry, I cry. These beautiful women know who they are and have made a huge impact on the world.

The violence against trans folks of color

Did you know that, because they are who they are, someone else thinks it’s right to murder a woman of trans experience? The Trans Monitoring Report shows that, from 2008 to 2019, there have been 3014 murders of transgender people worldwide.¹

We are only in the 4^th month of 2020, and there have already been at least 5 murders, lives taken away because of someone's ignorance.² This harsh violence also disproportionately affects transgender women of color, especially those who are Black.²

Supporting people of trans experience

Just like HIV, people are afraid of what is different from them or afraid of something they don’t understand. I say to you: love others while you can, be humble, and embrace people for who they are. Live your life and let others live theirs. We are here to do good for every human being, so love big because you don’t have time to waste being unhappy.

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