The holidays can be a stressful time for LGBTQ people. As they say – and everyone says, because it’s true – you can pick your friends, but not your family. And never has that felt more true than going home to celebrate Thanksgiving and all the other large family gathering holidays coming up. So if you’re not looking forward to seeing your Trump-supporting parents or racist uncle or homophobic aunt, take heart. You are not alone and you do not have to take it. If uncomfortable politics comes up, be honest with your family, if you can, about how this administration has threatened your rights. If Fox News is on TV all day, ask to turn it off or change the channel (because that shit is poison and before you go set parental controls on their TV to block that garbage. Kidding! Sorta.) Just remember you have every right to be there, to be heard and to be respected. And if they can’t, well, there’s always Friendsgiving. Or, you can Netflix and actually chill. (Or the other kind of chill, no judgment.) It is your holiday, after all. Do what you want.
I have a trans-phobic aunt who says all trans people are confused and should not be allowed around children. I have stopped trying to change her mind. She is a genuinely good woman otherwise but went off on a rant last year after her grandchildren last year were exposed to a girl in school who transitioned.
ReplyDeleteRight on! And you can always get up and leave. That’s an option too
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