Ameera Medina
Ameera Medina (she/her), board member of We Are Family in Charleston, South Carolina reflected on the victories of the 2021 legislative session during Trans and Queer Field Day.
Hi my name is Ameera Jules, and I use she/her pronouns. I am one of the board members for We Are Family and I live in Charleston, South Carolina.
I’ve been thinking a lot this year about how hard it is to just grow up in today’s society – and on top of that, growing up as a transgender kid. As state after state has passed anti-transgender bills, I worry about the mental health of our young people. Growing up trans can already be brutal – but when we add on this additional layer of discrimination, I fear that our youth are grappling with unprecedented levels of trauma and worry. It also specifically pains me to see the extreme misogyny that has been leveled at trans feminine youth in athletics – every time that one of these anti-transgender women spoke out about “saving women’s sports,” I felt a sting of erasure, and I know that young people were feeling that too.
I’m grateful that the anti-transgender bills have not advanced in South Carolina. And I also want to use this time to say that even though they did not become a law, these bills hurt. They hurt our youth just by their very own introduction.
I want the rest of this year and next year to be a year where, as a state, we can really move past these anti-transgender attacks. I want to see us, as a coalition, push toward a future where everyone can thrive – where trans youth can not only play sports, but also find their calling and feel safe with a team and a classroom and a family that accepts them for who they truly are.
As a trans Asian woman who grew up mostly in the South, I know all too well what it’s like to be put in a box and confined to a certain standard. I don’t want these kids to think that they can’t do something because of their gender, or because of their race, or because of their upbringing. We should all be on a level playing. We should all have the freedom to chose anything in life and pursue it, without fear or discrimination.
Thank you.