Trans Advocacy, Resilience in Politics, and Challenging American Identity

This clip episode dives into the complexities of trans rights advocacy, focusing on the stories of individuals in rural Nebraska and the challenges they face regarding safety and visibility. 

Jessie McGrath and Shane Ivan Nash discussed the importance of community support, the role of influential figures, and the ongoing fight against bullying and legislation that threatens trans youth.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Trans Advocacy and Resilience in Politics
• 4:41 Trans Advocacy and American Identity

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

To hear that you were actually boots on the ground, like literally in the building, breathing the same air as a lot of these people, because a lot of these people have changed a lot of legislative stuff that has impacted trans people really positively sometimes, because maybe five years ago it felt safer to be a trans person.

Speaker 1: 0:27

And now, ever since or not five years ago I'm probably misquoting time because COVID has got me messed up on that but like right before Trump got into office, like two years, even before we were even thinking about the election, I felt safer then than I do now as a trans person, even though I am fully passing, et cetera, et cetera. But you know, somebody wants to Google me, they figure it out. It's pretty quick. But that shift has sometimes got me questioning about the visibility. So sometimes I'm like maybe it's a good strategy that Harris is not talking about trans people to maybe not fan the flame so much. So I'm still again conflicted on that. But it's still nice to know that there was a brunch and a luncheon and trans people were invited Hopefully.

Speaker 2: 1:14

Non-binary, gender, non-conforming so it was the, it was the group, uh, and we, and actually the lgbtq plus caucus, met twice, so it met. It met on monday and on wednesday. Oh wow, cool, cool. So, and there were a lot of speakers.

Speaker 1: 1:38

I got to see miss major wow, how was that like like, was there other than miss major? Was there someone else in the room that you were just like?

Speaker 2: 1:47

oh my god, I can't believe they showed up to this oh, I was glad I got to meet sarah mcbride, uh, and talk with her. Uh, it was funny. We went up to ask her to come back to nebraska and, uh, mike introduced himself and I said oh, senator mBride, it's so great to meet you. I'm Jesse McGrath. She goes, I know who you are and I'm like you do. That's so cool. Oh, wow, gee, how you know when I when, when you know my doing, what I'm doing?

Speaker 2: 2:17

Uh, there are other, I know of other trans women. I'm on the bar, uh, the uh uh board of the national trans bar association and, uh, I'm, I'm friends on there with kirsten brody, who was a lawyer from new york. She's moved down to florida, you know. So there's some of us who are using our influence and our power and our privilege to you know, go in and just take it head on, because that's what you have to do with bullies. When people are bullies, the only way to really truly win it, you just have to stand up to them and punch them in the face and then they're going to back you up.

Speaker 1: 2:52

It's not always easy to do, though. It gives me anxiety.

Speaker 2: 2:55

You know what I mean it is. It is not an easy thing to do.

Speaker 1: 2:58

I don't know.

Speaker 2: 2:59

I'm tired. The way I look at it is. I lost consciousness at 70 miles an hour. Back in 2007, while I was driving on the freeway, I crossed four lanes of traffic into the wall, four lanes of traffic into the. I hit the center divider back over to the wall and I somehow lived through that, and for me every day since that point has just been bonus time and frankly it's.

Speaker 1: 3:26

I get that, yeah, it's like I.

Speaker 2: 3:29

you know I'm not going to. I just don't have time to take shit from people. I really don't. I don't have time to be dehumanized, I don't have time for somebody to tell me that that I don't belong when I clearly do. And so, yeah, I am not going to step by and that's why I came back here, and you know wanting to take this stuff head on.

Speaker 1: 3:54

Well, I mean, I it's. I think the future of the kids that are in your home state are going to truly thank you and for the folks that are really working boots on the ground in the way that they are for the community, because I mean, when you think of woke, you don't necessarily think Nebraska, I mean everybody's, like it's always the outer banks of you know New York, you know Chicago, la, a lot of them, you know big city kind of Hollywood types, and it's nice to know that, because I think the rural communities did get left behind too. I think that it's unfortunate to really think about it. I mean, I've been in LA my entire life. It's been a bubble. It's an amazing bubble. I don't want to leave it, I love it here, the weather's amazing.

Speaker 1: 4:41

But to really think about a lot of people that are in red states and the effects that that has. That's why Kamala Harris automatically has my vote, because it's like like I'm in a safe space. I'm in a space where, even if I voted you know for, yeah, purple dinosaur or whatever the hell, it doesn't matter, because I'm in california and there's a lot of state enshrined protections here, especially for trans people. But in those red states it's really important to think about, you know, because, because a lot of people suck on that morality of wanting to vote for Kamala because she did this, she's done that. There's this Because for some people it's Palestine, for some people it's trans rights, for some people it's the fact that she's just been a DA and attorney general and big sister general, general and and big sister general as she, she put in that one thing with her sister.

Speaker 1: 5:35

Um, I automatically still she gets my vote because of that, because of those red states, because of those trans kids, because, man, like I never thought that we would even have what we have now as trans people. I don't think you grew up with the idea of it. I grew up very, you know. Oh my God, I can't believe we're friends and I'm here and I'm getting to live my life and I have a beard and it's like, oh my God, what?

Speaker 2: 6:02

And talking about the rules, I mean that's my experience is I come from a town of 65 people, so for me going home was worth it. The one trans kid that's there.

Speaker 1: 6:13

that has absolutely no support that, like God knows what amazing art that kid or God knows could cure cancer or whatever. Not saying all trans people are, you know, but it's the missed opportunity to just show up for all of the village and to see that there were really, because I think that's something also the democratic party kind of always made the mistake in is leaving out the rural communities and leaving out people and kind of giving this like, oh, I'm smarter than you, I'm better than you on this. Well, in nebraska we got the dirt road democrats, yeah, and we're trying to.

Speaker 2: 6:50

we're trying to build the party more and getting out there into that, and again, one of the things just is is that the you want that trans kid to be able to make it To live, to even make it into adulthood, and so what they've been doing the demonizing of the kids has been horrid. But I do, in the future, want to make plans that I am going to get the rainbow families here in Nebraska, because I think people need to hear what happens to a family when you have the power of the state telling you you're wrong, you're evil, that that we're taking away your right to make decisions about your children. I think I think people need to hear what, what horrors that they had to go through for a lengthy period of time just trying to decide if their kid was going to be able to get health care, and that's something no parent should have to worry about. So I want to get them on because I think people which to me is still like how, how american is that?

Speaker 1: 7:57

like the thing that I do, like that the harris campaign is doing, and I will totally admit this when I would look at the american flag honestly since trump it's been interesting. You know, like I also culturally obviously grew up as a white person, I did buy into like the big American dream and living in California and all the amazing things, because I live in the bubble that I live in and like my idea of like America. Like my birthday is in July. I love Fourth of July, I love celebrating America and the idea of the freedoms and all the things that we were allegedly taught in public school that what America was growing up, getting older, figuring out a lot of that wasn't true. A lot of you know there's a lot of trauma in that sucks, but I still I want to find a way to make the lie that I was told as a child true.