i see fire in the past, i hear the flames chew up and destroy my history.
i feel the heat on my skin, the burning pressure of mystery.
when native americans rightfully occupied their land,
with ethics of peace, a connect to nature,
two-sprit people lived respected and acknowledged, before imperialist values went on their venture.
two-sprit is an indigenous term, given to anyone who doesn't identify with
what they were assigned at birth. they were sacred individuals,
with dedicated rituals, like the dance of berdache,
which then became a slur, as settlers decided their
stories should be unheard. the British called them sodomites,
and branded them with other derogatory names and terms,
decided their traditions and values weren't right and set out on their mission of trans erasure.
when they stole their lives and livelihoods and riddled the people with disease,
they ensured two-sprit wasn't a life anyone could lead.
destruction from entitlement entitlement from destruction
killing these people and their culture without any repercussions.
i see fire in the past, i hear the flames chew up and destroy my history.
i feel the heat on my skin, the burning pressure of mystery.
in hinduism, there are eunuchs or hijras,
who are well respected gender-variant members of society,
they are also sacred individuals who's history was mostly erased
unjustifiably. what proof is left
dates back to thousands and thousands of years ago,
but in india where a high population reside,
the british enforced laws to make their realities illegal,
tried to leave their existence behind.
these laws were only revoked in the last few years,
meaning centuries of unnecessary, illegal oppression.
they compiled their details on a list, put them under surveillance.
destruction from entitlement, entitlement from destruction,
bigoted views from a societal misconstruction.
i see fire in the past, i hear the flames chew up and destroy my history.
i feel the heat on my skin, the burning pressure of mystery.
the third sex was the first documented magazine dedicated to exploring trans-issues positively,
published in berlin in 1930. then the nazis came into power,
bigotry reigned, our community's history,
once again erased. they burnt the publishing house,
all progressive literature, they disallowed.
burning law-making
shaming misnaming
all methods to create
widescale trans-devastation.
even though it's the trolls who get upset, they call us the snowflakes,
say it didn't exist back in their day.
yet it's existed long before then and will always remain.
our community's resilience is undebatable,
existence unshakeable,
visibility unequivocal,
our stories will be integral.
our lives should not be up for debate, just like any other marginalised community.
we eat, sleep, breathe and laugh and we do it beautifully.
if you can't see the love in our hearts, then you are doing so foolishly.
think about which part of history you want to reside
think about who's ideologies you went to get behind.
i see fire in the past, but our knowledge is an extinguisher.
i feel the heat on my skin, a need to tell the stories of my ancestors.
think about which part of history you want to reside
think about who's ideologies you want to get behind.
thank you