We hear it everywhere: “Trans people deserve to exist.”
And yeah—we fucking do. But if the bar you set for us is mere existence, you’re still missing the point. We’re not some shadow‑world footnote waiting for applause. We’re your family, your friends, your coworkers, your lovers, your mentors, your therapists, your students, your bosses, the stranger who paid for your coffee last week, the software engineer who keeps your phone running, the artist whose song got you through quarantine. We have always been here—integral threads in the fabric of every human story.
Existence Is the Basement—We Live on the Roof
When society whispers that we “deserve to exist,” it’s handing out crumbs and calling it a feast. Existence is the lowest possible bar. Thriving is the real mandate. Love, celebration, safety, visibility without compromise—that is the standard. Anything less is malpractice of humanity.
Proof of Presence, Proof of Power
Look at the ledger of human progress and you’ll see trans fingerprints all over it:
-
Rebellion as Renaissance: Trans women of color like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera didn’t just attend Stonewall; they sparked a worldwide queer rights movement. The Pride you march in owes its roar to their heels on wet pavement.
-
Code and Circuits: The algorithms that map your city and the cybersecurity protocols that guard your data include lines of code written by trans engineers—quiet geniuses who debug in the daylight and transition in a culture that still confuses courage for chaos.
-
Words and Worlds: From award‑winning novels to underground zines, trans writers have split language wide open, giving us new grammar for gender, grief, and glory. If you’ve felt seen by a poem lately, thank a trans poet.
-
Stage & Screen: The Oscars, the Tonys, the Grammys, the BAFTAs—every red carpet has carried a trans creator’s dream stitched into its seams. We’re not just characters; we’re directors, screenwriters, costume designers, make‑up artists, lighting techs. We run the scene.
-
Medicine & Mind: Trans scientists contribute to cancer research, epidemiology, neuroscience, mental‑health best practices. Your next life‑saving breakthrough might be pipetted by a trans biochemist wearing noise‑canceling headphones and the name badge they fought HR to change.
-
Military & Public Service: From medics in Afghanistan to community‑clinic nurses on Main Street, trans people have bled and healed for a country that still debates our worth on evening talk shows. We serve anyway—because that’s what patriots do when patriotism isn’t returned.
Ordinary Miracles
But let’s drop the marquee names for a second. Contributions aren’t always headline worthy—sometimes they’re beautifully mundane:
-
Your kid’s favorite math teacher—the one who finally made fractions make sense—came out as trans last semester and still shows up every day with chalk dust and courage.
-
The barista who draws a dragon in your latte foam is quietly saving tips for top surgery and still gives you a smile that lasts longer than the caffeine.
-
The night‑shift nurse who held your grandmother’s hand at 3 a.m.? He’s trans, and he drove an hour after his shift to testify at the state capitol against legislation that would erase kids like him from school sports.
These are not fringe stories; they are the backbone of a society that pretends we’re newcomers while living on labor we’ve always provided.
We Are You
So when someone frames trans existence as a debate, call it what it is: lazy ignorance dipped in faux‑objectivity. The truth is simpler—we are you. We love, rage, work, dream, procrastinate, pay taxes, write bad first drafts, dance off‑beat, ghost exes, burn toast, binge Netflix, rescue dogs, start podcasts, forget passwords, mourn parents, celebrate graduations, and sometimes ugly‑cry at commercials. We encompass every human trait because we are human in all its messy, holy plurality.
From Tolerance to Celebration
Tolerance is a waiting room we’ve already outgrown. Celebration is the living room we deserve. And celebration requires participation—your participation.
-
Learn our names. Use them. They are spells we cast every morning to stay alive.
-
Protect our kids. They should worry about homework, not bathroom bills.
-
Share the mic. Platform trans voices in boardrooms, pulpits, think‑tanks, and classrooms. We’ve got solutions you haven’t even imagined.
-
Pay us. Exposure isn’t rent. Hire us, promote us, finance us, insure us.
-
Amplify joy, not just trauma. Retweet victories, not just obituaries.
The Call
So the next time someone cautiously says "Trans people deserve to exist," challenge them to stretch that sentence until it finally fits the truth:
Trans people deserve to be seen clearly, loved openly, paid fairly, protected fiercely, and celebrated loudly—because they have always been essential architects of the human story.
We are not a footnote to your narrative. We are the narrative. You can’t erase us without erasing your own reflection.
Welcome to reality. We’re here, we’re thriving, and we’re not going anywhere. Because we are you—and it’s about fucking time we act like it.
