New year, but still, not a woman
Hi friends,
Happy New Year! Here's another fun winter science fact for you. (Last week, I told you the weather keeps getting colder after the solstice because water in lakes, oceans, rivers, and groundwater stores heat and only gradually lets it go.) Did you know that the Earth is the closest it gets to the sun today, January 4th? The tilt of the Earth matters much more to the seasonal temperature than the variation in distance from the Sun. Cool, right?
I used to want to be a science journalist. Then I started writing mostly about gender. I know some people who would prefer I didn't write so much about trans people. I know some people who don't believe or understand me being nonbinary. They try to talk me into being "a woman." Believe me, I've considered at length and rejected the possibility, because, well, I'm not a woman.
I'm not lying about my experience of who I am. You can choose to believe what you want to believe about me. But it is disrespectful to imply my words are not genuine to my own experience.
It's funny, these personal comments get to me way more than the insulting spam from strangers I get on some of my posts and videos. I got a contact form response telling me to shove something somewhere. I deleted and blocked three comments on a youtube video this week saying using "they" pronouns was ridiculous and maybe best done in private. This nonsensical stuff doesn't bother me, at least at the low volume I receive now.
Before I descend completely into self-pity, let me also say I am so grateful for the positive feedback I have received from you. I keep a private Google doc called "nice things people say" filled with screenshots of kind messages, testimonials, comments, that remind me why I put out this unapologetically LGBTQ+ material.
If you've read something I've written, thank you. I appreciate you.
Take care,
Rey
If you'd like to support my work (no pressure!) you can give me a tip/buy me a coffee here! https://ko-fi.com/reywrite