Trans 101 with Riley Long

What happened to love thy neighbor?

Anti lgbt legislation can be deadly. Let's spend more time focusing on keeping kids feeling supported and happy and less time worrying about trans kids trying to win sports.

A new policy banning gender-affirming care for youth under the age of 18 is likely to become law in Kansas soon. That's why advocates are coming together for a virtual event focused on helping families navigate the changing landscape of gender-affirming care while feeling supported and uplifted by their communities.

Please join us Tuesday, February 18 from 6:00-7:00 PM Central for this special event hosted by Equality Kansas, Loud Light and Campaign for Southern Equality. At the event, you will learn about resources available for trans youth and their families, including patient navigation support, referrals to out-of-state gender-affirming care, and emergency grants for families of transgender youth. Additionally, community partners will share about the resources available through their organizations. And there will be plenty of time for questions.

Register here: https://southernequality.org/ks-townhall/

This past week has been hard. Make sure you're checking in with your trans loved ones. The only thing worse than the president saying you don't exist, is when everyone around you acts like nothing happened.

KANSAS ALLIES! Please help us stop SB 63 and SB 223, which will continue to allow for trans erasure. We need you all to not take a back seat and write written testimony for us this weekend. Please take 30 minutes of your time and email the Kansas senate. Its the difference between life and death for many of us!

Today is a day of mourning.
A day of fear.
Today could have been a day for progress, but instead will push us back in time.
I'm trying to remember the reason for the holiday and chanelling MLK's wise words.
Our community will stand together. I refuse to back down.

There can be many barriers to launching my allyship training. Many businesses claim they are already inclusive or that my ideas are too political. Learning something new from someone else doesn't mean you've done something wrong, but are willing to hear a new perspective and learn. Most of the time the changes are simple and you'll be shocked how big of an impact they will be.

Tag a business in the comments that could benefit from allyship training.

Seven years on testosterone today. Feeling so grateful for where I'm at and all the people that have supported me along the way.

Change takes time. Seven years ago the discussion of medical transitioning was really tough for some of my family. These difficult conversations bring back anxiety each time I make a change in my transition.

But people do come around and begin to understand that change for us is a good thing. Transition is helping us become closer to our authentic selves.

I wish some of my family had different political views that supported me better, but I'm glad they've been able to see that trans people aren't these scary aliens like Fox News portrays.

You know yourself and what you deserve. Don't feel like you have to keep people in your life that treat you poorly. You deserve 100% support at all times.

But do know in some instances there is hope for change.

When a trans person has surgery show up for them by offering assistance with food, care or even just checking in with them by text message. I'm very lucky I have my wife at home, but a lot of trans people don't have anyone.

Don't ask what surgery a trans person is having. This surgery has made me feel pretty dysphoric as it dealt with a part of my body that I don't want to think exists. If they want to tell you the details, they will.

Life has been so busy recently. I've been excited to have surgery just so I have a chance to pause. Everything went well Thursday and my recovery so far has been pretty easy and painless. I'm hoping to spend some of my off time reaching out to more organizations about training.

Its tough being trans right now, but know I'm here for you and will never stop fighting.

For those of you watching the Chiefs game and all these political ads, please know that what they are sharing about trans people is not true.

There is nowhere that allows trans youth to access transition without parental consent.

Trans people don't want to take over sports. We just want to participate in life in our most fullest way.

Men are not using the women's restroom. If you think trans women are men, you need to question why you are policing bathrooms and show me actual facts about the harm trans people cause in bathrooms.

When trans people cannot access healthcare it ends in su***de. Ask yourself why your opinion on our lives is more important than us living.

Vote for who you want, but don't make up lies about my community.

As I was checking into the polls yesterday, the poll worker who checked me in shared that I should get a new ID since I don't look like my picture anymore. She's right. I had that picture taken at the very beginning of my transition. The problem is that when I get a new ID I will no longer be able to have "Male" displayed despite going through all legal processes and fees to get that changed. Not only will that cause an excruciating amount of emotional pain, but it will put me in a vulnerable and unsafe place when I'm in public.

My vote is about giving people like me the chance to exist. The ability to live safely and equal to the rest of society.