Ash, Age 17, Wyoming
ASH: I get mixed feelings about these laws. There’s a part of me that gets hurt by them because I know what it feels like to be a trans kid in a Republican state, but I also get angry because I can see who’s making the bills and I can see that they’re not looking at the effects it’s going to have on trans youth. It’s affecting my planning for the future. I’m an athlete, I want to go to college somewhere I can still play soccer but now I have to think about whether I’ll be allowed to play sports because of my identity, because of who I am as a human being. I’m faced with rejection for something that I cannot control.
MOM: I’m a teacher, and teachers’ jobs are to make kids independent because they’re going to grow up and be adults. But what are we making them now? We’re making them afraid of other people, and we’re making them shells of themselves by not allowing them to be themselves. So many wonderful things happen when you’re allowed to be you, and not someone else’s version of you.
ASH: There certainly are people who just don’t want us to exist, but I think a lot of it is based on the fear of the unknown. Being in a rural state, we don’t have a lot of trans people we can look up to. When I was figuring out my own identity I would look things up online, but I never saw what I was feeling reflected back. I never saw people saying, “Hey there are rural queer kids out here, too.” Now I want to do that for kids, to make sure there’s not a kid in Thermopolis or Laramie or Cheyenne looking up ‘trans’ and wondering if it’s ok to be queer in Wyoming. I felt alone. There was no one I could ask questions to. It caused me to go through depression, it caused me to not want to live, and no kid should ever feel that way when they’re eleven. Or any age.
MOM: And that’s with supportive parents! Ash has been going to pride parades since they were a baby but still, being in Wyoming it was hard not seeing yourself.
ASH: You can’t put people into a box just because it’s easy. It's ok not to know who you are yet. You can come out multiple times, you can try different things. There is time to evolve. You can’t be expected as a young person to know exactly where you are without looking into it and looking into yourself. You’re not alone. Once you’re ready to take a step out, there will be people to hold you even if the people you love and care about won’t be there – there will someone that will step up and hold you when you need it.