Friends, Allow Me to reintroduce myself

One of the most difficult parts of being trans, is how inconvenient it can feel to ask the folks in our lives to see us and honor us wholly and in our dignity. So, as I finally went through Freedom Oklahoma’s Name and Gender Marker Correction Clinic myself, filed my paperwork pro se (and I finally have my day in court this month), and worked to let people in on my name, Solas Evans, and pronouns, he/him, in my day to day life, it felt like maybe too much to do that same labor here. To ask all of you who I’m just getting to know to use that updated information as we continue to work together, dream together, and collaborate towards building the future where we all have the resources, community, and safety to thrive, across Oklahoma and everywhere we call home. But, I don’t think twice about making the corrections when someone else gives me new information, whether it’s testing out a possible name or set of pronouns, or a more solidified change. Part of the beauty of this community is getting to trust one another to try out who we are together, to share that information when we have a more clear understanding of who we are, even with the possibility that might continue to evolve. Because we evolve, our information evolves, and sometimes that means shifting the information we have about ourselves and one another, so we can show up fully and freely as our whole selves. 

ID: photo of 3 people standing next to one another smiling and laughing in front of a multicolored paper ring backdrop. Photo by Alexandrea Delgado.

And we get to help folks all across the state do that every day. Whether it’s providing scholarships to cover the costs of filing name change paperwork, leaning into the long tradition of trans folks helping trans folks navigate the legal barriers and processes necessary to correct information, being the first folks to use a corrected names, a safe space to test pronouns, or any of the work in between, some of the greatest work we get to do is creating spaces for folks to tell us who they are, and have that received, respected, and celebrated. We’ve supported almost 100 different folks over this last year alone. And, even as folks in power work to create new and arbitrary barriers in terms of having those truths recognized via government documents, we know that ultimately, we’ve always done the work of navigating those obstacles and creating new systems ourselves. 

It’s with your support that we can craft these opportunities for folks across Oklahoma. 

We’ve got us. 

So, allow me to re-introduce myself. My name is Solas Evans. My pronouns are he/him/his. And in my day job, it’s my great privilege to work together with you as the Director of Operations, Organizing, and Support. Grateful to be known and seen in this space. 

In Solidarity,

Solas Evans