THE AFTERMATH E.L. Winston

THE AFTERMATH

E.L. Winston

I don’t think there is a time in my life that I’ve been more stressed about what goes on in this world than I am right now. Roe vs. Wade being overturned has opened the door to take us back to the stone ages. As a trans man, I take issue with anyone telling people what they should or shouldn’t be able to do with their own bodies. I fear for more than those who seek legal abortion. What about trans men who go to planned parenthood to get gender affirming medicine or pap smears? Then, there are situations like Robert Eads, the subject of the 1998 documentary Southern Comfort. A trans man seeking emergency surgery after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1996, but he was denied by a dozen doctors because it would look bad on their practice. Eads didn’t get any help until a year later. By then it was too late for him. People who forget the past are destined to repeat it.

Those who think cases like Eads’ are relegated to the past are the same ones who didn’t think we would be discussing the overturning of a law that’s been on the books for 50 years. There is a war going on here for our freedom. Understand when I say ‘our’, I mean all of us. Don’t think it’s just women’s rights or LGBTQIA rights. This sets precedence for anything that doesn’t stand on the side of misogyny, bigotry and racist ideals. We need to more than ever stand up to be heard. We must use our voting power to speak louder than ever before and we need to educate ourselves and others on how the government is run. Knowledge is power and we're already behind the curve. I pray that we don’t have to bury anymore of our loved ones behind a system that is not made for the people.