BEING TRANS
the lady asked me what it meant
and for some reason i told her we were refugees from Transnitria
a small republic surrounded by very large and powerful states
a republic so small that it can only be spotted on a map with a magnifying glass
that sometimes we weren’t even on the map
that there was a debate about our recognition in many parliaments and organizations
that no one really wanted us
that we were an uncomfortable thing
that our borders were always in dispute
that we were an unresolved issue
that every day someone questioned our status and threw words at us like de facto and juridical and special
that no one would accept our currency
that everyone was suspicious of our passports
that we had no rights
that many of us were killed
that in spite of that we felt as part of a community
that although it’s true we sometimes fought with each other
we had a common tongue
we yearned for the same horizons
we grew by the same rivers and mountains
we were raised under the same harassment and the same difficulties and the same lack
that although all we knew was displacement and rejection we would always sing about our home
that all we wanted was what was best for our people
that our anthem talked about pride and happiness and love and fortitude and peace
that our emblem was a rising sun because our fight was for a future filled with light
anyway
i said that’s what being trans meant
she said that it was both very sad and very beautiful
i said yes
it was
—from Rattle #84, Summer 2024
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Francisco Castro Videla: “There is not much to be said, the reason for my writing (I think) necessarily eludes me—but I can only state that words such as ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied’ (Matthew 5:6) and ‘Verily, God does not look at your shapes or wealth, but he looks at your hearts and actions’ (Muslim, Book 45, Hadith 42) should never be taken lightly.”
