children

Interviews on Using Proper Pronouns

/ N.Pearson / 1 Comment

(Ranma)

I conducted three interviews this week on folx in the LGBTQIA community. Here is one of them!

Natascha: Hi, this is Natascha with Little Lost Forest, and I will be interviewing Ranma today. A very good friend of mine for the past ten years. Ranma, how are you doing?

Ranma: I’m doing good, thank you for asking.

Natascha: Awesome, I’m so happy to hear. Will you please tell us your pronouns?

Ranma: Well, my pronouns are she and her.

Natascha: Sweet, and as I understand, you have transitioned?

Ranma: Yes, that is correct. I have been in transition for about a year, and I think four months now.

Natascha: Wow, the time has gone by. It flies. Can you tell me a little about yourself, what you do, and what your hobbies are?

Ranma: I’m an artist. I’m very athletic. I used to break dance. I love listening to music. I love making illustrations. I try to do illustrations for the trans community, and I also do designs for everyone else. As you know, I’m very open with my artwork. As for a real job- that is basically my real job because I have epilepsy and can not work.

Natascha: Well, a full-time artist is definitely a real job, and you keep yourself quite busy.

Ranma: It helps when you’re mad.

Natascha: Yeah, it does help when you’re mad. I can agree with that. How has transition healed you?

Ranma: Um, well, it allowed me to be myself completely. And now I actually have a bigger palette of fashion than I had before. More clothes to choose from, which can be awesome and really bad at the same time. If you saw my room, you could see the toll it’s taken.

Natascha: That’s great. The clean-up might be more now.

Ranma: Yeah! I need one of those machines now that they clean the ice with-

Natascha: Like in Meet the Jetsons.

Ranma: That’s right, a Zambonie. A Zamboni or a mechanical maid or something.

Natascha: I’m sure you can manifest anything. It will come to you. Why is it important to use proper pronouns while someone is transitioning?

Ranma: Well, because, for one, that person was never actually their birth gender. Inside they were always woman or male, and actually saying so would help their body’s energetical cells (helping every trans person realize that they are beautiful, Angelic even) to actually blossom. -Because it feels good to be called what you’re striving for. It was always there, but you know, you’re just trapped in this skin suit.

Natascha: That’s beautiful. Why do you think some cis-gendered folks are bothered by others’ use, announcement, or display of their correct pronouns?

Ranma: Well, to be honest, I think a lot of cispeople are very uneducated about their own sexuality. And also I think that they’re fearful. For instance, if they see a cute woman and that woman turns out to be a transwoman, it’s like, ‘Oh Shit, am I gay now?’ You know, and vice versa. To be honest, I think it’s just insecurity.

Natascha: Do you feel transitioning has changed you in any way?

Ranma: I can’t answer that one too precisely because I have always been me, but the biggest change that I can say is that I am actually 24/7 happy.

Natascha: I’ve heard that a lot in these interviews. That it [transition] has helped with depression and has made people very happy. That is wonderful.

Ranma: One of my friends I went to bars with was like, ‘Oh my god, you’ve changed so much.’ For instance, you smile more, and I thought to myself, I thought I always smiled. No, no, no, you smile a little bit, and then you put on a depressing song for karaoke, and then you sing a depressing song for karaoke, but here you are dancing and smiling and more upbeat songs for karaoke. So I’m like, alright, well, thank you, I didn’t notice that.

Natascha: Cool, this is a question I threw in there, which is kind of important to me because I have children, and I’m introducing my daughter into the LGBTQ(IA) community.

Ranma: Awesome-

Natascha: Why do you think it is important to introduce children to the LBGTQ community?

Ranma: That has so many answers. For one, it’s really good for child evolution right there to be accepting of everyone and everything and to realize that there is more than one way to live life. And everyone is the same. You know, it is also the journey of who you are. There are grown adults who have no idea who they are.

Natascha: Yeah, absolutely, and there are people that transition later in life so, and don’t find happiness until then.

Ranma: I am one of them. I didn’t even know I could do this until four years ago when I had my trans fiance, and we broke up, and I found out that, as much as I don’t want to admit it, I was completely jealous of her.

Natascha: Does it all make sense now? Are things coming together for you?

Ranma: Yeah, the only thing I have to really be cautious of is haters.

Natascha: Can you tell me a little more about that? What kind of negative reactions or discrimination do you have to face?

Ranma: Basically everything that comes with being a woman, those discriminations (referencing that women have to go through, all women have to go through, being judged on their beauty and being seen as just sexual entities, etc.)- that type of stuff. And then there’s little stuff like my aunt still likes to mislabel me, misgender me, as you know he. And like someone did this to you! And it’s like, no, I did this to myself, and I’m happy. I made a choice. And it’s quite interesting. The landlord still calls me he ’cause he caught me at the entrance of my transition, and he’s old, he’s sweet, you know he just can’t open up that third eye and get down with me being a woman and him being able to still talk to me and chill and have a beer with me.

Natascha: Yeah, I’m sorry you have to deal with that. At the same time, I think you’re really blossoming into your true self, and you’re absolutely beautiful and stunning. I don’t think anyone is going to get you down, and if they do, you call me. Is there anything else you want to add?

Ranma: There are some of our old friends that just recently saw me and haven’t seen me in a bit, and I just went to the bar. I have this overall skirt. A beautiful overall skirt, and I think you know Kevin. You know, dreadlock, Kevin. He couldn’t say to my face that he found me attractive. He told Eddie, my housemate instead, and said, ‘Oh my god, who’s that? She’s got beautiful legs,’ and found out it was me. ‘That’s Ranma,’ ‘Oh, Ranma? Can I meet her?’ ‘Kevin, you already know Ranma. Ranma used to be Rasheed. That’s Ranma.’ ‘Oh, okay. She has beautiful legs.’

Natascha: Now you get to show them off.

Ranma: I love showing them off. Especially when an old friend hits on you. ‘You don’t recognize me?’, ‘Okay.’

Natascha: Well, you’re a new person now.

Ranma: Not even how I speak? I think I still speak the same.

Natascha: I think you do, but you know it’s a new you, and I am so proud of you. Is there anything else you wanted to add to help educate the community on transgenders or using pronouns?

Ranma: Well, all I want to offer is a little bit for everyone on this one. Loving yourself will allow you to love others. And that’s the basic thing if you’re cis, trans, or miscellaneous, you know it doesn’t matter. It all starts from loving yourself; once you love yourself, you can be yourself and learn to love everyone else.

Natascha: Thank you so much, Ranma, for coming on today. These are short ten-minute interviews. I appreciate you.

Ranma: No worries.

Thank you, everyone for reading, educating your community, and spreading the word that using the correct pronouns when someone is in transition is showing respect! I look forward to sharing more interviews early next week.

Interview with Heather Against Forced Children Vaccinations

/ N.Pearson / 4 Comments

The interview with Heather was conducted over the phone. Here is an insight from a mother who has first-hand experience with the consequences of vaccinating her child as her pediatrician recommended.

Parents have more power than you believe. You need to be your child’s voice.

-Heather

Natascha: Hi Heather,
Today we will be discussing child vaccinations. I believe you are against forced vaccinations, is that right?

Heather: I believe that where there’s a risk there should be a choice. There is always a risk when vaccinating your children because you never know what the reaction can be.

Natascha: Thank you. Can you tell me a little about who you are, your background, and if you have kids of your own?

Heather: Well, my name is Heather. I’m from southern California. I’ve spent most of my life in Missouri. I have a nine-year-old son, and I am currently pregnant with my second child.

Natascha: Congratulations, woohoo!

Heather: Thank you.

Natascha: So you know all about the fears of getting your child vaccinated and being pressured to get your child vaccinated, especially when you’re pregnant. That’s when this subject came to me, being pregnant and after having a baby and getting these vaccinations but not finding a lot of information about it.

Heather: Ya definitely. When I was vaccinating my son or whenever I was pregnant for the first time, I didn’t think anything about it. I was just doing what I was told, basically. You know, the doctor is always right.

Natascha: Exactly, and I’m starting to realize that it is not always the case.

Getting started, I think that one of the major concerns of vaccinating children is if it is worth the risk of injuries such as long-lasting shoulder pains, paralyzation, and even death. Do you think the risk is worth your child having any of these kinds of injuries?

Heather: When I thought vaccinating my son was the right thing to do, I thought I was doing everything right. When I brought up my concerns about my son’s delayed speech and behavior issue, the pediatrician thought it was normal. I knew it wasn’t normal because, you know, mothers know their children, and I knew something was going on. So when I first moved to California in 2016, I started doing more research on vaccines, and then I found a group on Facebook called “Stop Mandatory Vaccinations.” There were a lot of parents on there that were talking about the MTHFR gene and how if you have this gene, your will be more than likely to have a bad reaction to vaccines. So I had my son tested for that gene, and he has that gene. My son growing up-, I had his voice in a lot of situations. So if I knew the information I know now when I was younger, I would have delayed vaccines or not done vaccines at all. I do have friends that vaccinate their children, and they are healthy, and they live normal lives.

Natascha: I am so sorry you guys had to go through that. If vaccines have curred common diseases, is there a healthy medium to waiting to vaccinate children? I know you said that waiting is something to consider. What would you do now as a pregnant mother?

Heather: I personally am not going to do any vaccines while I’m pregnant at all. I don’t feel that they are necessary while being pregnant. I don’t feel like they’re necessary. Your baby is safe in the womb, and if they plan on vaccinating your child for all the things they vaccinate you while you’re pregnant, then what is the point?

Natascha: Absolutely. What about after you have- is it a boy or a girl?

Heather: I’m not sure yet.

Natascha: Oh, how exciting!

Heather: I need to get an ultrasound. My first appointment is on the first. I’m 16 weeks, but I guess a lot of people are pregnant, so I haven’t been able to see a doctor yet, get an ultrasound, those kinds of things.

Natascha: I think it took me till 22 weeks to find out the sex.

Heather: It’s really packed out here.

Natascha: Congratulations, yay! Do you think you will go through with vaccinations once he or she is born?

Heather: Yeah, definitely no.

Natascha: Good.

Heather: Yeah, my experience with my son changed my outlook on everything. I just don’t feel comfortable. I don’t feel right doing it. Basically, I was told that it was normal, and I knew that it wasn’t normal. My son was healthy. I did everything whenever he was supposed to. There was no reason why that happened.

Heather: Another thing that I believe is that they are scheduling the vaccines too early. I feel like it is too much on a little body that hasn’t been here that long. You can always do a delayed vaccine schedule, and you have to find the right doctor that is willing to do that because a lot of doctors won’t even do it. The MMR vaccine is one that I recommend delaying. This is one vaccine that most kids have an issue with. Vaccines are given way too early and too many at a time, and that can be the cause of many of the reactions that the children are experiencing. I do have friends that have done the delayed vaccines, and their kids are fine too.

Natascha: What would be a solution to opening our school to vaccinated and unvaccinated children so that way we don’t have to force these decisions on parents?

Heather: Yes, I honestly don’t know what the school’s deal is when opening the schools to vaccinated and unvaccinated children. Some parents who are vaccinating their children feel that unvaccinated children are putting their children at risk. But that’s not the case. From personal experience, some parents who vaccinate their children aren’t interested in listening to parents who don’t vaccinate their children. So from the parent’s side, I don’t know. From my experience, they don’t care. “Oh, you don’t vaccinate your children? You should vaccinate.” But why, why should I?

Natascha: This is a response I get a lot, especially conducting this line of interviews. If we force vaccinations on people and children, how does it affect a person’s freedom of choice?

Heather: There’s no respecting a person’s freedom of choice if you’re forcing them to vaccinate their children. Like I’ve said before, where there is a risk, there should be a choice. A lot of people feel like it’s not a big deal because the unvaccinated people are putting the vaccinated people at high risk, so that leads them to feel like they should be forced to do something that they don’t want to do because they are putting other people at risk. That’s really what it is. I always say that if you’re vaccinated then you should be protected, right? What does me being vaccinated have to do with you? It’s a lot.

Natascha: Knowing that some kids have severe reactions to vaccines, how do you feel prioritizing the lives of children without reactions and accepting that some will have severe reactions for the benefit of the greater good?

Heather: If someone wants to vaccinate their child, that should be up to them. It shouldn’t be something that we do out of fear. The parents who don’t vaccinate their kids have reasons. They’ve done the research they experience sleepless nights and hospital visits. It’s not something that they just do one day. It’s something that you had to go through or know someone that has had to go through it too.

Natascha: What are the best ways to keep unvaccinated children away from diseases?

Heather: I am a big fan of herbal medicine. I’ve been giving my son herbs since he was four years old. I believe that children who are unvaccinated and children who are vaccinated have about the same risk of getting the same disease. Because vaccines stop you from getting a disease, and it doesn’t make it less severe. That’s just not something you can predict. You can’t predict how someone’s body is going to react to disease if you’re vaccinated or not. Even a doctor will tell you that it’s not going to stop you from getting the disease. They’re going to tell you that it can make it less severe. But they don’t know that either. Because everybody is different, you can’t say how someone’s body is going to react. You just can’t do that.

Natascha: What kind of natural herbs and medicines do you use to keep your child from getting sick.

Heather: I am a big fan of sea moss. That is a sea vegetable with tons of minerals in it, gives them energy and boosts their immune system. Elderberry has been around for a long time. If you go into stores, you will see elderberry gummies and a lot of elderberry supplements. Especially at Sprouts, Clarks and Wholefoods you’ll see that type of stuff. I make elderberry syrup that has elderberry, mullen leaves, wild cherry bark, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise. Those are all powerful herbs that help with mucus, cough, and congestion. I give that to my son all the time. If there is something going around at school, I give it to him. I had COVID. I had COVID twice, actually. But my symptoms weren’t; I was sick for probably two days, but my son never got sick. He tested negative. Everybody in the house tested positive besides him. I was giving him herbs and stuff the whole time, and he never got sick.

Natascha: You need to be taking care of yourself as well as you do your son!

Heather: I know that is how I feel! And then, when I got pregnant, I thought I needed to step my game up. I am better with that. It’s hard whenever you have kids. You feel like you have to take care of them better than you take care of yourself.

Natascha: I know it.

Heather: You have to remember to take care of yourself because if you’re not here, you can’t take care of your kids. So, I have to tell myself that.

Natascha: Thank you so much. It is really nice to have the view of someone in the medical field and with kids. People need to hear this, and I appreciate you taking the time.

End of interview.

Heather proceeded to inform me that if you have your kid tested for any disability and fall into the category of an IUP, they do not have to be vaccinated to go to a public school. You can schedule an IUP meeting through your school.

You can find Heather on Tik Tok @hmonroe2.

Please stay tuned, next week I will be interviewing a teacher that sees the advantages of vaccinating your child and strongly pushes every mother to follow a pediatrician’s guidelines to vaccinate children despite misinformation.