Image at top shows three different sized and colored tomatoes and a tomato leaf all together in the lower left corner. There is a blue-green border on top of a dark blue background. In white text, the image reads “Growth and Support: Not Just For Tomatoes”. In the right corner, there’s a white Transcend the Binary logo.
Although this post is being put up by Tara, it was written by one of our Peer Advocates. If you would like to learn more about Transcend’s services, please contact us!
Hi, I’m a peer advocate at Transcend the Binary (TTB). Transcend the binary is a trans-led organization with the sole purpose of uplifting our community, whether that be through peer counseling and advocacy work, providing HRT information consultation, doing research or any number of fantastic things. As a peer advocate I do peer counseling and provide intake appointments to help people find the services they need. Our TGNC community is the heart of this organization. Transcend is by and for our TGNC community. It’s who we are. We strive to uplift each other and develop skills in our community, like a community garden of knowledge and support. Fueled by the community through team empowerment.
I’m also a gardener. In more ways than one, I have my woefully dehydrated succulents in my windowsill (don’t worry, I’ll water them right after this is posted)! and I have my advocacy work and skills at Transcend. Like plants need to be checked for water needs, people benefit from check-ins and support from their teammates and, that’s something we always have in good supply. Advocacy work is all about growth. Who can we involve? How can we help? What tools can we use? What resources can we leverage to create change in the world? Working together to solve and answer these questions is like fertilizer; it nourishes the skills we have and the work that we do, and our collaborations fuel us and help us grow! Transcend does advocacy work and growth in a method similar to organic horticulture; we don’t try to change our team members, we take everyone’s skills and strengths into consideration to create beautiful action.
Speaking of growing and watering plants, don’t forget to hydrate yourself!
“Like plants need to be checked for water needs, people benefit from check-ins and support from their teammates and, that’s something we always have in good supply.”
An organization is like a tomato plant, the work being the tomatoes. If you put a lot of money into the best fertilizers and automatic watering systems you can grow some huge, beautiful and delicious tomatoes, but a tomato plant that isn’t supported will fall under its weight and the tomatoes will get ground-rot. If you take things slow and put supports up – such as a tomato cage – the tomatoes will grow healthily and the plant will remain strong. It might take a little longer to get tomatoes, and they might not be as fancy as the ones with expensive systems keeping them in shape, but in the long run you will have more good tomatoes. Advocacy and activism work is the same, you can pour a lot of money into (or rush in to solve) a campaign or a project, but if it doesn’t have the right support behind it, it may not yield long-term results that you’re looking for. When the community members are the gardeners and the work is driven by them and the focus is shared and consistent, it may take longer, but the effect will be stronger. The heart of every project is the cause – uplifting our community. The sternum to protect it and surround it is the passion of those working together to bring the community’s vision to life.
Everyone deserves the support they need to grow and flourish. Our community is a garden of wonderful folx with a lot to bring to the world and we can change the landscape forever with our collective growth. If you need a tomato cage of trans support resources in your life, feel free to reach out to us at Transcend the Binary. Thank you for taking the time and energy to read this, have a gentle day!