Leadership

[he/him/his]

Hi. I'm glad you're here. My name is Jack and I am a parent to two children & two cats. Long before I came out as trans, both to myself and my family, my hope for my children was for them to feel free to be fully themselves. I had an unwavering trust in the Universe, and a plan: to lead by example; to become the most authentic version of myself. I was not simply going to tell them to be true to themselves, I was going to embody it. 

When I came out publicly in November of 2022, it felt as if the ground below me gave out. I was no longer standing on solid footing. I felt hopeless. I felt alone. I was not prepared for the repercussions. My naiveté gave me comfort to be living in one of the most progressive cities in the country. Any transphobia I had come up against before felt somehow removed from my day-to-day life. After, there was no area of my life that went untouched by this hateful ideology, blatant disrespect, and misinformation that was being fueled and reinforced by news and media outlets. My neighborhood. My job. My family. My relationships. 

My mind.

Boston, a place that felt like home, no longer felt safe for me to inhabit. It was a struggle every day to leave the house, to walk down the street, to use a public restroom. 

I was not alone in the backlash I was facing. My children began experiencing transphobia — in school, in sports, in community. I felt as though I had failed them; I set out to show that they were free to be their true selves. But this truth came with a price.

I lost many loved ones after coming out. Almost overnight. I kept reassuring myself, "this is a process, we are all processing." But so much damage had already been done, so much harm already carried out.

The feelings of cis-gendered folks around me were taking precedence over not just my own lived experiences, but my identity. I found myself invalidating my feelings, numbing myself, and shutting out the world. 

Meeting Matthew strengthened my resolve. After sharing my story with him, I felt uplifted. I was not alone. Though my family and I did not yet have the resources we needed to navigate this, I knew they were out there. I knew I needed to find my people.

It became more important for me than ever to be visible. To take up space. To show people that yes — trans people are real. We exist. We are human. Some of us are parents, just out here doing our best.

TQNC was born out of necessity. Out of a desperate need for community support, connection, and basic human rights that are being stripped from the queer community, especially from our trans and gender non-conforming siblings. 

TQNC is for you. It is for me. 

It is the fight for the world we all deserve to live in.