Dear Archer

Dear Archer,

You were born yesterday at 5:30pm in Scottsdale, Arizona. You are 7 pounds 14 ounces and 21.25 inches long. You are healthy and beautiful and have two parents who love you dearly.

You are too young to know of the tragedy that unfolded in Orlando this weekend, but you are not too young to know that you are loved and supported for being you.

I want to protect you with all my heart, but more importantly I want to teach you the lessons I wished I had learned before I had to learn them the hard way.

As a white transgender queer person, it is my responsibility as your family member to fight so that you grow up in a world that is better than this. It is important that you respect my identity, but even more important that you respect all identities, even those that you don't come into contact with on a regular basis. It is my responsibility to teach you about homophobia and transphobia and xenophobia and racism and sexism all the other phobias and isms that there are. It is my responsibility to teach you to stand up against hate when you see it.

While you are an infant, I will read you books and offer you toys that show characters of all family backgrounds, races, ethnicities, religions, gender identities, and sexual orientations.

While you are a toddler, I will take you to parks, stores, and other places where you can see people wearing clothes different than yours and hear people speaking languages different than yours.

While you are school-aged, I will use your difficult questions about other peoples' identities as teachable moments. I will talk to you about prejudice and advocacy and role-play scenarios with you so that you feel confident to stand up to children and adults when you see or experience disrespect.

While you are a teenager, I will talk to you about my own family--about my trans and queer identities, about my relationships, about my mental health struggles, and about my existence in a world where discrimination is common for people like me.

While you are a young adult, I will talk to you about colonialism's effects on the indigenous people in Arizona and all over the country. I will take you to museums that celebrate Native land and Native heritage and help you make sense of any questions you have.

When you are an adult, I will invite you to marches, rallies, forums, and events that celebrate diversity and push for policy change. I will also ask you to invite me to events that are important to your identities and your friends' identities.

And through your whole life, I will assure you that you have my support for being the person you are, no matter how you identify or what challenges you face.

I love you Archer Luke, and I am your advocate. I hope you join me on this journey so that one day soon, you can be an advocate for others.

Love,
Am