As we think about LGBTQ identities, it is important to note that historically, gender roles in many Native societies, were diverse along the lines of what refer to today as trans, non-binary, LGBT, and so on. However, it was conceptually understood as "two-spirit," with contemporary natives reclaiming this language and traditions of honoring these identities that the colonizing Spanish punished under settler colonialism—that was, of course, reinforced by Anglo/Europeans that followed. Here is a source for further exploration.
Sadly, we can live entire lives and even intellectual and political regimes that are so divorced of these facts of history that we thoughtlessly attribute to the advent of a new, mischievous "woke" generation and culture. Then we not only ignorantly and arrogantly distort this historical reality of gender diversity, but in so doing, diminish the love, caring, and solidarity that we should always have toward "the other"—or those considered or treated as "other."
On God's green Earth—as individuals and as people—we are all equally deserving of dignity and respect.
-Angela Valenzuela
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