On Ordinary Chaos, I interviewed three beautiful people who happen to be trans. (Listen to those here, here, and here, or wherever you get your podcasts.)
I have known all three of them for a long time—between 15 and 30 years—well before any of them transitioned.
There are closeted gays I’ve loved before and after they came out.
I’ve known women for years sometimes before learning about a sexual assault they endured.
Friends have had miscarriages and abortions while I was around and part of their lives, and they never spoke a word of it until years later.
When you say, “I don’t know anyone who _____,” you’re probably wrong.
That mindset makes me think of young children who cover their eyes and believe you can’t see them because they can’t see you.
You don’t know you know “those people,” but they can still hear you, and what you say deeply affects whether or not you’re considered safe.
Whether that affects your opinions or not is another matter. There are too many people who give up their children because being righteous is more important than having relationship with their children.
But if knowing someone would change how you speak or how you act or how you vote, consider that odds are good that you do know someone—you just don’t know you know.