Henley's Spontaneous Opinions

  Some  men have a uterus. Some women don’t have a uterus. Some people aren’t a man or a woman and have a uterus. It’s hard to watch all my friends call this an attack on women.  It’s not.  It’s an attack from the patriarchy on all marginalized communities, like always. Oppression intersects.  Maybe this is the first time it’s directly affected you, a woman. But all of the acts of oppression in the past have affected you indirectly. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, and you feel offended by what I’m saying, it might be time to do some reading. Education is a very strong tool. We need to make damn sure no one from one marginalized group is fighting with someone from another, ever again. We need to link arms and stand up to the patriarchy and PUSH BACK.  We’ve been STILL living by the rules written by a bunch of white men in 1776 that were specifically designed to let them maintain their power.  This is 2022. I want to see less cis men in charg...

(Trigger warning for trans friends, there’s derogatory use of terms our community has been trying to reclaim.) I’ve seen a lot about trans people using bathrooms.. AGAIN. I’ve seen people complaining about the need for gender neutral bathrooms.. AGAIN. My question is, are these people ever taking a second to put themselves in the shoes of the trans person who needs a bathroom? Relieving your bladder behind a closed door is a basic human right isn’t it? Are we not human? Do we not deserve to evacuate behind a closed door? There are trans people who do not “pass” as their gender (for whatever reason, and the reason is their own business). There are non- binary people who do not “pass” as a gender and never will. There are Intersex people who were born with traits of both male and female. The fact is, you can’t know what someone’s sex is without looking at their genitals, which is absolutely non of your business. No one is going into bathrooms targeting cis people, trans people ARE the ta...

With Pride month right around the corner, I’ve been reflecting on the past year I’ve been out. I’ve lost some close friends & family members, I’ve had all the typical hate and discrimination thrown at me by total strangers, I’ve had a lot of times where I just wanted to go back to hiding myself. But I’ve actually gotten to a place where there is no going back. I don’t want to go back. It’s just as miserable to hide yourself as it is to deal with bigots. How have I gotten through this and to the point I am today? The answer is easy: a support system. The close friends & family I have that are loud about their love for me carry me through the days. Some of the most important people in my life are the real & true allies. I have a few in particular who have never wavered in their support for me over the past year. I feel safe with them. And this is one of my favorite loud & clear messages I’ve received from them: be you, do what you gotta do, we have your back.

   Every minority group of people who have to defend their way of life are constantly accused of lecturing others , bullying others..  when we feel we are responding to your initial bullying in you not accepting us, calling us groomers, etc.. all we're doing is trying to get people to understand us and leave us alone. Stop treating us like a problem. All of this will go away if you just accept that we are here and stop picking on us.   For a group that seems to obsess over fake news and what’s the truth or not, you sure do spread tons and tons of fake news about our community. 

 At one of the recent school board meetings, some people from the community stood up and said horrendous things about the LGBTQIA+ and our supposed agenda. In response, many Equity Buckfield members and friends either wrote speeches or were in attendance for the next school board meeting. Much to my dismay, the school board meeting was the same day that I was (finally!) having my sinus surgery, so I could not make it! So I wrote an email to the school board in advance. One of the board members ended up making a statement and referencing my email. She was brought to tears because she herself has LGBTQIA+ kids and found it upsetting.  Here is the email I wrote to them. To the School Board: I am a parent in the community. I opted to finish the year homeschooling, but we live right down the road and have the potential to be involved in a lot of things in the school system in the future. For this reason, I like to stay informed and watch as many school board meetings as possible. D...

me one year ago: agender? what's that, that sounds like me. but I'm not non-binary. me a few days later: maybe I'm non-binary, but I'm not transgender. me within a few months: okay, I'm transgender, but I'll probably never get chest surgery or go on testosterone.  present me: .... I'm 36 and spent 35 years of my life tirelessly trying to fit into the straight cis cube. That's not what shape I am (or want to be) or can be, so I never fit right. The acceptance that I never will, and don't have to, was the most freeing feeling ever.  I now go by Brax and my pronouns are they/them. Brax comes from the name my parents wanted to name me if I was assigned male at birth. Braxton because of all the false contractions (Braxton hicks) I tormented my poor mother with. This is the piece of information about me I chose to start with because I feel like its an important part of my identity right now. I know its not the only important or interesting thing about me, ...