Letter from Miley Selena Fletcher
S.C.I. Forest, Marien Ville, Pennsylvania
Note: Miley Fletcher is a trans woman incarcerated at S.C.I. Forest in Pennsylvania, one of 214 transgender prisoners incarcerated there, according to their sex assigned at birth.
I sit here and wonder why people hate. Why is being transgender so wrong? What did transgender people do to you for you to hate us so much?
Remember Trans Power – Fight For Trans Freedom! Trans freedom means a world free from violence that separates us from our bodies, spirits, communities + the earth. Trans freedom means a world without borders and deportation. Trans freedom means abolishing all prisons, jails, and detention centers! art by Micah Bazant for the Audre Lorde Project
Is it fear, lack of understanding, jealousy? Nowhere in the federal or state constitutions does it say that being transgender is wrong. If you’re a Christian, nowhere does Jesus Christ in the four Gospels say it’s wrong. He never preached hatred towards any race or any sexual orientation.
Many Native American nations and Indigenous peoples consider Two-Spirit individuals as those who play historic, traditional and honored roles in society. Where in the American system does it say it’s wrong to be transgender? Nowhere!
But only in the mouths of the ignorant, do people hate. Have you ever sat there and looked at yourself in the mirror and asked yourself, “Why do I hate?” Look real close, because it’s you who has a problem. Not us! Maybe you’re so dysfunctional that you forgot how to love, how to care, how to treat other human beings.
We know who we are, who are you? We’re no different than you. We’re human beings just like you are. As Michael Jackson sang in “The Man in the Mirror,” I’m asking you to change your ways. You yourself can change.
These big politicians, power has gotten into their heads. Do this, do that. But they have forgotten who they are. Or where they came from. They came from the same origin that we came from. All of us are created equal. No one is better than the next person.
It comes down to this: You’re miserable. You always have to pick on people that you can bully around. You’re not happy with your life. You’re not happy in your relationship. And you’re afraid of what other people will say to you.
I am transgender. So always remember that I am going to be a thorn in your side. Even after I pass on, others will follow in my footsteps. We have as much right as you do to be here. Face it, this is a losing battle for you to hate on transgender people.
I am . . . LEGENDARY.
Miley S. Fletcher