I choose to be seen for who
And what
I am
To let it be known
That I would rather shiver in the cold
Than let one person stand alone
If I enter these spaces by the grace of my face
I betray my sisters,
My saviors
Who are shut out from this place
And I do an injustice when I glide past the gate
To infiltrate hate and I sit there silently
Too fearful, too selfish to say it
No
There are places I won’t go
Even if I can hide
Even if I can pass for cis
Because even if I could the trouble is
That I’d be leaving my sisters
And brothers
And siblings outside
Besides,
We have our own spaces,
Our own traditions,
Our own ways of embodiment
That defy cis-centric expectations
Truth is,
I choose to be visible
Because I don’t need your validation
About the Author
Morrigan Bonegardener is a first-year creative writing student at Selkirk College in Castlegar, and a Queer, Transgender Woman whose writing style and voice reflect her lived experience. She lives with her husband, two dogs, cat, bird, and fish on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Sinixt Peoples.
