They cannot legally remove me from existence.
(Jeff Parrott | The Salt Lake Tribune) Transgender rights activists protested at the Utah State Capitol on June 19, 2024, as lawmakers convened for a special legislative session.
By Kili M. Campbell | The Salt Lake Tribune
| June 22, 2024 12:05 pm
The Utah State Legislature has decided to celebrate Juneteenth again this year by attacking transgender people.
On June 19, lawmakers voted to reject federal Title IX regulations that would protect transgender students because they infringe on state sovereignty to nullify state anti-transgender bathroom bills passed earlier this year that even the state auditor said would accomplish nothing.
These actions should not be surprising. Those of us who pay attention to transgender issues in Utah know that no other outcome was ever possible. These decisions are a reactionary response, a knee-jerk rejection of change simply because it comes from “the left.”
These laws, these decisions, these dark, hateful attitudes can weigh heavily on me, but I comfort myself with a simple phrase:
They cannot legally remove me from existence.
To all you Representatives and Senators who voted to “protect state sovereignty” to bully trans kids, hear this from one of your constituents. I remain committed to living in joyful defiance and unwavering truth. Your opposition to my “lifestyle” is irrelevant. Your opposition to my identity is meaningless. You can sit in a protected room and write all the laws you want. I will still use the women’s bathroom. My students will still call me “Miss Campbell.” I will live my life knowing that my soul is sovereign over all laws and all the harmful beliefs of others. You can make it illegal for me to be a teacher, you can make it illegal for me to take the hormones I’ve been taking for almost a decade, you can continue to demonize and dehumanize me and you will gain nothing. I will remain transgender until the day I die, I will never leave Utah, and I will never stop fighting for my rights.
It doesn't start or end here. Gender nonconformity has been documented in countless cultures for thousands of years, and we have survived every attempt at erasure. The Nazis tried to eradicate transgender people from Europe in the 1930s. They tried much harder than you (destroying medical centers that offered gender-affirming care, banning and burning LGBTQ+ books, forcing gay and transgender people into concentration camps). And they failed to eliminate us. Your efforts will also fail, and time will condemn them.
Your actions will haunt you, your children may come out to you, and it is your choice to accept or reject it, but they will never stop being themselves.
Regardless of what you believe happens after this life, you will have to face your Creator and explain to Him why you chose to shun and despise your fellow man, or worse, why you chose to ruin the lives of innocent children.
To the people of Utah: Wake up. Think about what your government is wasting your money on. Think about how much more you could accomplish if you didn't focus on the very few people in Utah who already have it tough. Think about how much easier it would be to love rather than hate.
Kiri M. Campbell is a Masters in Education student and teacher in Salt Lake City.
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