Thanksgiving and family Prejudices

Must I always have to explain? Must I always have to be silent in order to maintain the peace at home? That's what my family wants. They want me to listen to their prejudice comments and be silent, even when it directly oppresses me.

It happens every holiday and always ends with me ranting, crying, yelling, banging, or some combination.

They were having some conversation about the trans man who got pregnant and had a baby. Okay fine. But then my grandmother goes off about how SHE still has reproductive organs and SHE is not really a man. Okay grandama but HE identifies HIMself as a MALE and yes grandma the media does exaggerate how its a miracle that a man had a baby, BUT stop disrespecting this person by referring to him as a she when he simply does not go by female pronouns. So I explain this not only to my grandmother, but to my sisters, brother, and mother.

Of course, my mother must interject with a sad excuse to make light of the situation. She says " well, how about a SHE-HE?" WHAT?! Now it has officially become a prejudiced conversation at which point everyone is laughing and re-assuring me that they are just teasing and having fun with me. Well, guess what everyone I'm Transgender and you have successfully insulted me. Still, though, they are just teasing...right? And still they have not apologized or even tried to learn about trans issues.

My family, like many other families and individuals, use laughter and joking as an excuse to dehumanize marginalized people in our society. They never want to listen and they always want to re-assert their power and privilege. They will never admit that they are prejudice...they are too ashamed.

They are my family and they will always be my family. No choice. And of course, It is too difficult to escape...I love them so much and they mean so much to me that I will stick around and holiday after holiday I will attempt to transform their narrow minds in hopes that one day I will succeed... :sigh: