Willow Defebaugh

And I think part of why queer people are so much on the chopping block right now is because we just represent that.

We represent being unapologetically alive and embodied.

And I think as our friend Alok says, when you see someone really being themselves, it forces you to confront the distance from that in yourself, in your own self.

I try to invite people in and just be like, come on, it's a lot more fun over here.

I mean, this makes me think about the importance of putting down our phones and touching grass.

Because social media really does amplify the most extreme voices.

And so do politics, right?

And so, like, if I'm only tuned in to that world all the time...

I start to think that this whole country, this whole world, hates trans people, hates me.

But the reality is, according to the most recent survey, over 80% of Americans want trans people to have the same rights and protections as everyone else.

And everywhere I go, I meet strangers who are nothing but kind and want to start conversations.

And at the end of the day, I just have to remind myself that there is like a real world of people who are mostly just strange and good and kind and want to find connection and love.

probably in some way or another feel like an outsider themselves.

I'm kind of in a process right now of really trying to shed whatever part of me assumes what someone is going to think about me before I've even spoken with them.

You know, I think when this administration took office again, we were like, okay, are we going to be covering everything that gets thrown against the wall again?

Are we going to be like the Trump tracker, right?

And pretty quickly in discussion, we realized that that's what the rest of the media is going to be doing, is following him around and taking notes on every temper tantrum that he throws.

And I'm really trying to hold the long arc.

Talk to me about that.

I keep thinking about geologic time lately, and I keep thinking about how nature has these timescales that are so much vaster than our own.