My Letter To Cassidy Lynn Campbell, Transgender Homecoming Queen

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Dear Cassidy Lynn,

First off, congratulations on being crowned homecoming queen! That’s such an amazing accomplishment!

I just finished watching your heartbreaking YouTube video, “I Should Be So Happy…” and there aren’t words to describe how much it breaks my heart to see someone so young, someone so true to herself become the victim of such bullying.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoIBMttsQaA&w=640&h=480]

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the world, it’s that people will lash out at what they cannot (or choose not to) understand. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an online article written by or about a transgender person that wasn’t filled with at least a few vile, transphobic, hateful comments. This, in itself, is saddening. When it comes to a story like yours, though, it’s absolutely tragic.

You didn’t do anything to deserve the type of hate you’re experiencing now, and hopefully, someday, you won’t have to.

In your video, you ask yourself whether you should just go back to hating yourself, go back to trying to be a boy. This is a question so many of us have asked about ourselves as we come into our own. I can say with some certainty that no, you shouldn’t do that. Do you know why? Because you’re not a boy, you are a beautiful woman, strong and resilient.

It’s easy to say “don’t let the comments of complete strangers bring you down,” or “develop thicker skin,” but it’s a lot harder to actually do it.

To the people out there dead set on tearing Cassidy down, I have to ask, why? What direct or indirect impact does her identity have on your own life? To those of you quoting the Bible, I ask that you find me the passage where Jesus talked about how transgender people are icky, I ask that you point out the line that says, “love thy neighbor… unless they’re transgender.”

To those of you who dismiss the existence of people like Cassidy and me because you, as someone who has never dealt with gender dysphoria, I ask, do you bring this same level of scrutiny to other medical conditions you don’t understand? For the folks out there who say, “but she has a Y chromosome!,” I’d like to note that last week, the New York Times published an article, titled “DNA Double Take,” which contained this line:

In 2012, Canadian scientists performed autopsies on the brains of 59 women. They found neurons with Y chromosomes in 63 percent of them. The neurons likely developed from cells originating in their sons… When they looked for Y chromosomes in samples of breast tissue, they found it in 56 percent of the women they investigated.

Point being, the presence of a Y chromosome doesn’t make someone a man. Life is never that black and white.

I get it. I get that it’s easier to tear someone down than to show an ounce of empathy. I get that it’s easier to revel in ignorance than seek education. I get that it’s easy to hide behind the anonymity of the internet to bully an innocent teenager.

Just because it’s easy, that doesn’t make it right.

I’m used to the comments sections of articles associated with me being filled with a few nasty comments here and there. I’m used to people calling me names, making sexist comments about my appearance. This doesn’t mean that these comments don’t hurt.

But people, please stop harassing poor Cassidy Lynn. She didn’t do anything to you. If you insist on taking things out on someone just for being transgender, please spare her and just direct all that misplaced hate and ignorance at me. I can take it. Go ahead.

Keep being strong, keep being resilient, Cassidy. Keep being you. Is it fair that you’ve become the target of such hate and ignorance for nothing other than being yourself? Absolutely not. I know things can be hard, but anything worth fighting for usually is.

Keep being you.

With love,
Parker