On swimming.

January 8, 2020

I faced a major fear of mine a few weeks ago

Those of you who’ve known me for a long time understand how much the water means to me. I fell in love with swimming at a young age, taking quickly to lessons and chasing every opportunity I had to get in the pool. There is something intoxicating about the weightlessness & freedom that comes with buoyancy. I adore the fluidity of movement and the enveloping nature of drifting through a body of water. In high school, you could catch me most summer afternoons down by the Chippawa creek, jumping off bridges into the cold waters of the Niagara River (also the setting of one of the many accidents that left me toothless, this one a few days before my graduation). When I had the chance to give the Imagine Day address as @ams_ubc President at my Alma Mater, I spoke about my favourite place in the world: the old UBC Aquatic Center, where I studied for all of my exams on the viewing deck above the pool; relaxed by the calming sounds, filtered sunlight, and smell of chlorine.

There’s a tweet that circulates queer cyberspace talking about what trans people would do if the world was free of cis people for one day. Most people say that they’d go swimming, and my heart sadly agrees. The world today is not a safe place for trans bodies, and we rob ourselves of these experiences in exchange for protection from violence.

During my trip to Florida to stay with Indigo, I chose to take back my right to the water. I bought a one-piece swimsuit and ran into the ocean for the first time since coming out, letting the warmth and salt defend me from staring eyes and ignorant minds.

Everyone deserves to be free.