On Family

This weekend, I said goodbye to my brother as he left to go back to Chicago after staying with me for three weeks here in Brooklyn.

It was absolutely marvelous to have him here as he took classes in Manhattan to become certified to teach English as a second language. We cooked familar dishes, watched cartoons, and drank and talked late into the night about whatever came to mind. He also got to see me interact with my other family - queer and trans folks taking care of each other.

During the time he was here, we hosted a baby shower for our friends (who should be having a baby any day now!), had a young trans guy from Canada crash on our couch for a few days, sent Leo and Brian out to Michigan to film and had them come back again, and continued to have Thursday night Community Nights for Sanctuary Collective. It was very special to me to have a member of my family of origin interact with my chosen family. And it got me thinking about how important all of you are to me.

My family is not just local - I love knowing a good handful of the people who comment on progressive Christian blogs patiently and angrily when racist or heterosexist stuff gets said, or recognizing the names in press releases about direct actions or campaigns. Sure, sometimes it feels like there is only a small handful of us doing this work, but it can also be so nice to get on gchat with someone across the country to debrief our reactions before formulating responses.

Thank you, all of you, for the big and small things you do every day to challenge and change the world. And thank you for supporting me while I do the same.