LISA SALAZAR — BLOG

Image: depositphotos.com Even before the bloody Columbine High School massacre in April 1999, mass shootings had been frequent in the US. From schools and churches to shopping malls and city parks, radicalized, politically motivated, and mentally ill persons with easy access to guns continue to shed blood and leave death in their wake.  So what else is new? The recent shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, occurred at a Christian school where the killer had once been a student. The shooter happened to be trans, which opened the door for hyper-conservatives to attack the trans community. The conservative media quickly seized on this fact and is using it to spread more lies and further their agenda to erase trans Americans. They labeled trans people "domestic terrorists" and are now using this unfortunate incident in Tennessee to justify their inaction regarding the gun violence epidemic. This is a pattern that minorities have seen before, with the Black, Muslim, Jewish, and Asian c...

Just weeks after a Daily Wire host called for “eliminating transgenderism,” Fox News host Tucker Carlson described in apocalyptic terms that transgender people are the “natural enemy” of Christianity on his show last night in a rant about the Nashville school shooter, who is possibly transgender. “The trans movement is the mirror image of Christianity and, therefore, its natural enemy,” he said. Firstly, Christianity is a religion based on love, compassion, and acceptance of all individuals, regardless of their gender identity. Jesus Christ himself emphasized the importance of treating others with kindness and love, and his message was intended for all people, regardless of their race, gender, or background. Therefore, it is incorrect to suggest that transgender individuals are the "natural enemy" of Christianity. Secondly, transgender individuals face significant discrimination and marginalization in society. They are often subjected to verbal and physical abuse, denied acce...

In June 2015, one month after Caitlyn Jenner graced the cover Vanity Fair magazine, the Family Research Council (FRC) published their infamous white paper on how to fight the war against “transgenderism.” This paper spelled out the strategies that Christians should use to fight the war against trans people. Eight years later we are seeing the brutal consequences of this strategy being played out in Republican controlled State Legislatures as they create laws that criminalize doctors and parents who support and care for trans persons; in particular, trans youth. On the opposite side of the debate stands the American Medical Association (AMA). The AMA is clear about why trans health care is important and ethical and has  released several statements and policies regarding transgender individuals. Here is a short list: The AMA recognizes that transgender individuals experience unique health disparities and barriers to care, and supports efforts to address and eliminate these disparitie...

It’s been more than four years since I blogged. My last blog post was on September 22, 2018. I had just returned from my 50th High School Reunion in San Jose, CA, where my family emigrated to in 1960 from Colombia. After I graduated from Blackford High School, I attended San Jose State University and graduated with a BA in Graphic Design in 1972. A year later, I followed my two older siblings to Vancouver; and my parents and two younger siblings followed two years later. I only share this to give a context for what motivated that “last” blog post in 2018. While we lived in San Jose, I was sexually abused and also raped by two different men. The first was a paper route customer, and the second was an Argentinian in his early twenties attending San Jose State when he raped me. I was 12 and 15 years old, respectively. Should you care to read that blog post , I share how the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings triggered me.  On the Saturday of the reunion, I drove to the two apartmen...

Coincidental with my Class of 68’ 50th high school reunion, the reports of Republicans bullying Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who question her memory of the attempted rape by Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, has thrown me into a bit of depression. I’ve been triggered. I am here, in a motel room in San Jose, California, where my high school reunion is to take place in an hour. Earlier this afternoon, I drove to the two locations where I was sexually abused and raped. I  remember all the details. I may not know the name of my attackers, but my body and brain remember how it felt to be forced to masturbate a man who was one of my paper route customers. I was 12 years old. I resist the compulsion to wash my hands for, God only knows, the millionth time. Then there was the rape when I was 15 years old. Someone who purported to want to help me audition as a rhythm-guitar player in a garage band and had offered to drive me to a house in Willow Glen, a neighborhood in San J...

An unexpected (and unforgettable) end of story. A couple of weekends ago, I went to visit my Mom. My sister arrived unexpectedly a short time later with her grandson, who is eight years old. Figuring the last thing the little guy wanted to do on a summer afternoon was to sit indoors with three older women, I said, “Let’s walk to the convenience store at the gas station; it’s only three blocks away, I’ll buy you a candy bar.” My niece's son... He gave me hope for the future.  We trundled off talking about candy, and as we passed the elementary school a block away, he asked, “How old are you?” Hum, I thought to myself, I wonder why he wants to know my age? “I’m sixty-seven, almost sixty-eight,” I replied. “Oh, then you’re older than my dad. He’s fifty-one,” he remarked. Then he asked, “Do you have any children?” At this point, I realized I had never spoken to my niece, his mother, about how much and how soon he should be informed about my ‘real’ position in the family ...

I took a leap of faith on the third Saturday in July 2008. It was either that or leap to my death. As scared as I was of what lay ahead, it was less frightening than the thought of never having experienced what it felt like to live authentically. I'm happy to still be here, as Lisa. A topic garnering much attention in social sciences is intersectionality, the categorizations of race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group. It is regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. Add to this idea the questions we ask and the answers we get as we explore our world as children and in our youth. What assumptions, expectations, and conclusions do we draw? Do they set us up for success or failure? Same-sex attracted and trans and non-binary persons navigate and view life through a lens that often makes them imagine a future that is frightening. Fear of rejection, ridicule, and abandonmen...