Hello. Welcome to yet another rant. Today’s focus will be on how schools nationwide treat the students of the gay trans communities. Yes, I will be discussing dark topics, such as murder, suicide, and other triggering topics. Do not read if you are triggered by this stuff. I am very serious about topics like this, and this will not have any form of a joke, or lighthearted comments. It infuriates me that the government allows this, and I will not be kind here.

With that said, I will begin. Starting strong with topics of murder and suicide. This is a second warning. Do not read if you are triggered by these. Multiple states in America have added laws forcing teachers to push students out of the closet, even if the parents are openly transphobic, and homophobic. This has caused children to die. Either by suicide, or murder. Children are crying for any sign of hope that they won’t have to run away, kill themselves, or be murdered. The government doesn’t care. The government only wants to kill those who are not like them.

I am lucky that my mother is supportive of my identity. I am lucky that I have not thought of running away or dying since I came out to her. Hell, I am lucky that I am still alive, especially because I am openly gay, and trans. But other kids may not be. A case that sticks with me to this day is Brianna Ghey. She was a trans woman, who was murdered just for being a trans woman. She was murdered in a park. A public place. Many trans people have been murdered, and the government is doing nothing good about it. They are just spilling out new laws against us, and they are killing us all. They are killing people who are not like them just because they feel like it.

I am lucky that I have not been severely bullied for being gay and trans. I am lucky to still be alive. I am a child. So many of the trans people in this country, and the gay people in this country, have either killed themselves or thought of it. I am disappointed. If this is the “Land of The Free”, then it is only such for people who are straight cisgender white men. For the rest, it is most likely a death sentence to live here. If the government is so concerned about the people, then they should do better to protect us all. Watching people die left and right just for being different is not freedom. It is a prison.

Yes, I am aware that I have most likely made people angry with such rants. No, I do not care. If I have to be scared of every new person I meet, then this is not a safe place. I have been forced to watch the genocide of my people, and I cannot just keep quiet about it. Students are dying. Children are dying. People are dying. The government will not listen unless people make them listen. I have cried myself to sleep at night knowing that I may be killed just for being myself. Or kidnapped. Or I could be raped. None of those are good. This is not freedom, it is a false sense of hope for people. It is really hard just to stay alive. The government is allowing people to be denied jobs just because they’re gay or trans.

If I have to be afraid of cops, then are they really protecting us? I’ve not trusted most cops for a long while, because of something the cops here in Utah said when I called them crying about physical and sexual abuse. “He doesn’t look like he would do that.” This isn’t related to me being gay or trans, it just shows how the government always blames the victim. I was a child, 10 years old. Calling the cops every single week until I turned 13 when they finally arrested him, it was hell. Having to deal with him. He screamed at me when I came out as gay and trans. Flat out denied my identity, and then his abuse got worse.

He said I was confused, but he “Wasn’t homophobic.” He called me during my freshman year, and I reminded him of my identity, and he got mad again. Not a single thing was done when I cried and screamed at him. If it takes a child three years of calling the cops, and 6 years of elementary school wasted sleeping, crying, going to therapy, and having the secretary of the school sneaking me out through the back of the damned school, just for him to get 15 years, is a perfect representation of how the government doesn’t care about the kids.

I cannot say fully what he did, but he deserves no chance of early release. I am a trans man. I am a son. A brother. A boyfriend. A friend. A grandson. A nephew. I am a human. But I do not feel like I am being treated as such. No form of bribery could silence me, and even if it kills me, I will do everything I can to make America truly safe. Because it is far from that at the moment. Texas isn’t even safe for a gay person to step foot into. America isn’t even safe for a gay person to step foot into. I am Sage. My chosen name is Sage; my birth name is not important. I am an artist. I am a child. I am a goddamned human. But if I have to feel like a dog with a muzzle, just to be kept from opening my mouth, then I might as well be such.

I will not keep silent. I have a voice, and I have every right to use it. I have every right to speak. I am seen as a monster just for being different. People think that drag queens are bad people when they in fact raise a lot of money for charity. More cishet white men have hurt children than drag queens have. By the gods, we are not monsters. We are people. And we have had to fight for the rights that are being taken away from us right at this very moment. We have to fight just to be seen as human. We are not safe, and we are at war with ourselves, and our government.

-Sage.