Trans Mom vs. Family Court: Justice Sees No Gender

03/18/2026

To my trans & gender non-conforming family, friends & our allies.

You're doing everything right & it still feels like you're losing.
You show up every day, stay visible, help others, keep creating.

And maybe you're still alone, broke, terrified, waiting for something to change.

Maybe you wake up with panic in your chest, watching everyone else get the partner, the stability, the life you're working toward while wondering what's wrong with you.

Maybe you feel cursed, like you did everything right & your reward is just struggle, uncertainty, time passing while nothing changes.

Maybe you're exhausted from trying to manufacture hope when your brain keeps screaming that you're doomed.

I see you. That pain is legitimate.

Here's what's also real: they're coming for us because we matter. When they try this hard to silence us, we're threatening something they need to control.

We're navigating a world trying to legislate us out of existence while building careers, finding love, surviving. Twice the work with half the support.
Maybe you're doing all that while your family's disowned you, you can't afford therapy, you're one crisis away from losing everything.

That's not failure. That's you doing the impossible while the world makes it harder.
Here's what they don't understand: persecution reveals importance. They wouldn't fight us this hard if we weren't onto something profound.

You're building in crisis. Most people can't do both. You're doing both while being persecuted.

Every time you show up when you'd rather disappear - that's collective resistance.
Every time one of us stays visible, we prove they can't erase us.

You're in the hardest part, right before things shift. For us, that shift isn't just personal - it's cultural.

This persecution? That's backlash to our ascension. We're becoming more visible, powerful, integrated. They can feel their control slipping.
History shows: persecution's temporary. Our existence is permanent.

You're at the edge, you're visible & that visibility is power they can't take away.
Every trans person who refuses to disappear - we're creating the world we needed when we were younger.
You don't know when things'll shift. Not knowing when makes it feel like never.

But not knowing when isn't the same as never.

You're not wrong. You're tired & that's okay.

Keep going. Not because you're certain it'll work, but because you staying visible creates possibility for all of us.
One more day. One more moment. Stay in the boat.
We're stronger than they thought, more resilient, more essential.

We're going to make it. When we do, it'll be because people like you refused to disappear.
Keep going. You're closer than you think.

I love you, I choose you, I see you. I love me, I choose me & I'm grateful that you see me.
Stay in the boat, which is now the size of a cruise ship.
Please see my solo play ‘Trans Mom vs Family Court: Justice Sees No Gender’ reworked into an all-trans ensemble workshop reading - live on 4/12 & streaming for two weeks following that. Sliding scale ticket link is in my bio 🏳️‍⚧️

03/13/2026

To my trans & gender non-conforming family, friends & our allies.

Florida just banned local governments from promoting anything labeled DEI, including sexual orientation and gender identity.

They're desperate to keep angelic beings from exposing their binary, patriarchal facade.
And a federal court just ruled that states can ban trans healthcare.

I've been post-op 31 years. My body doesn't make hormones anymore & without estrogen I die. Bone loss, cardiovascular collapse, neurological deterioration. That's not politics, it's biology.

They want us to be afraid, but they're the ones who're afraid.

They're terrified of us because blow up the binary & we always have. Every major spiritual tradition says so if you actually read it.

Hijra in India. Two-Spirit peoples across Indigenous America. The Bissu of Indonesia. Dionysus. Jesus, who in Matthew 19 acknowledged people born outside the binary & lifted them up rather than condemned them.

Non-binary expression isn't new, isn't western & isn't a threat to God.

It's a threat to people who need you afraid & in a box so they can stay in power.

We’ve always been here & they have never once succeeded in erasing us. Not once.

Call your state rep - not email, call. Give to Lambda or the ACLU, they're in these courtrooms right now.

Share this & talk about us to someone who doesn't already agree with you. Silence is a choice too.

In 1995 I walked into a custody battle as a trans woman with no lawyer, money or roadmap.
My ex-wife wanted to take my daughter & leave the state.

Everyone assumed I'd lose.
I didn't. I kept my kid & my life & then I wrote a play about it that won awards at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in June.

And now it's getting bigger.

Director Maddox K Pennington is working with me to rebuild it as a full ensemble with an all-trans casr, producer & director.

People who know exactly what it costs to show up right now & show up anyway.

Producer Blaire Battle plays young me. I perform seven original songs using looping tech, built layer by layer from silence while you watch & Blaire sings one of them.

April 12th at Hudson Theatre in Hollywood as part of the Joy Who Lived Festival, in person or livestream.

This is a workshop reading of the new ensemble version - the story is still becoming what it's going to be & we want more stages. Your ticket gets us there. The link is in my bio.

To every trans person watching, 31 years ago I fought a system designed to erase me & I won & I’m still here making art & making noise & I am not done.

Neither are you. We’ve been here forever, in every culture, century & every sacred text, if you look close enough.

They need you to forget that.

Don't.

I love you & choose you. I love you & I choose me.

See or stream my play: Trans Mom vs Family Court: Justice Sees No Gender.

This is not the time to lose hope. Stay in the boat & stay on course.

03/10/2026

To my trans and gender non-conforming family, friends and our allies.

I've been living as a trans woman for 31 years. Not performing or experimenting. Just living. Raising a daughter, building a career, loving people & losing people. Surviving things that would have broken someone who didn't know exactly who she was.

And from where I stand, with 31 years of receipts, I'm here to tell you something:

I'm not scared & you shouldn't be either.

Here's what I've learned about human beings: we don't mobilize against things that don't matter, write laws about things that don't exist, or dedicate our lives to defeating something that has no power over us.

The intensity of this opposition is a confession of our significance.

And I want to talk about something that doesn't come up nearly enough, because it should stop every critic cold.

Go back to the oldest stories humanity ever told. The ones carved into stone & passed down through fire & prayer. Hinduism gives us Ard-hana-rish-vara, a deity who is literally half male, half female, the union of Shiva & Shakti, revered as the source of all creation.

The Maori, the Yoruba, the Greeks, the Romans, the Babylonians, Indigenous cultures across every continent recognized gender beyond the binary, not as aberration, but as something sacred.

These weren't mistakes or sins. These were the stories entire civilizations chose to tell about the divine.

So if you're someone genuinely asking yourself what's right about all of this, consider that the oldest human wisdom on earth didn't see us as a problem. It saw us as something closer to holy.

What changed wasn't nature but fear.

And fear, when it gets organized & funded & handed a microphone, can look a lot like righteousness. I've watched that happen for three decades. I know what it sounds like & costs.

But here's what fear can't do: it can't rewrite what's woven into human experience across thousands of years or walk into a classroom & convince a kid who knows exactly who she is that she's wrong about herself.

[continued in first comment]

01/07/2026

The U.S. and early‑stage genocide warnings.

Genocide scholars and human‑rights institutes have warned that current U.S. policies targeting trans, nonbinary, and intersex people resemble the early stages of a genocidal process, especially where they aim to eliminate public visibility, restrict healthcare, and criminalize supportive families and providers.

These experts emphasize that genocidal processes often begin with dehumanizing propaganda, legal exclusion, and destruction of identity before escalating into more overt violence, and they frame current anti‑trans politics as fitting that early pattern.

Why the framing matters for activism.

Using the term trans genocide is a strategic choice: it signals that what is happening to trans people is not a series of isolated injustices but a coordinated, group‑targeted project that demands urgent, collective, international‑level response.

Many advocacy toolkits and grassroots groups now explicitly organize under “Stop Trans Genocide” language to connect local fights over healthcare, bathrooms, sports, and speech to a larger struggle over the basic right of trans people to exist.

There is no middle ground.

People are either an ally or an accessory to genocide. Words don't save lives, thoughts and prayers are gratuitous virtue signals.

Actions are the only offense. Resistance is the only defense.

12/27/2025

Trans Mom vs Family Court: Justice Sees No Gender is more than a play. It is living evidence that authenticity, truth, and love can overcome hate and systemic injustice.

This award-winning solo performance by playwright and actress Rejyna Douglass-Whitman recreates her real 1995 court battle for custody of her daughter, fought while she was transitioning, homeless, jobless, and without legal counsel. Against all odds, she won. The story exposes how trans people have survived decades of discrimination and challenges the dangerous myth that transgender parenting is new or untested.

This testimonial video features actual audience reactions from sold-out shows, standing ovations, and is one of dozens of powerful personal responses. Viewers describe the play as life-changing, historic, and impossible to forget. Through live original music, multimedia archives, and actual court transcripts, Rejyna turns trauma into truth and performance into activism.

In an era of escalating anti-trans legislation, every booking and every share of this play becomes a form of protest and visibility. By amplifying this story, viewers help preserve living transgender history and give hope to families fighting for equality today.

Read reviews and press coverage: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11822?tab=reviews
Watch the official sizzle reel: https://youtu.be/QcEFaZsmv0I?si=EdfEgPIcWc7y6DrI

Trans Mom vs Family Court: Justice Sees No Gender | Testimonials
Winner of the Transcendent Craft Award sponsored by Trans Stories & The Joy Who Lived, winner of the Daredevil Award sponsored by Electric Lodge, Official Selection of the Santa Monica Playhouse Binge Fringe Festival, finalist in the Theatre Planners Award, and semi-finalist in the Loud Karma Emerging Women & Nonbinary Playwrights Award.

https://youtu.be/im3cKpLteKw

Trans Mom vs Family Court: Justice Sees No Gender is more than a play. It is living evidence that authenticity, truth, and love can overcome hate and systemi...

11/15/2025

I’m really honored to share that I have been appointed to the Hollywood Fringe Festival Access Advisory Board!

Details on my SubStack Post:

This isn’t just an appointment, it’s a promise to expand pathways, reduce barriers, and champion artists too often left out of the room.

10/06/2025

We’re told to ask for help when we need it, and I need your help to bring people to the theatre. This is your call to action. Close your eyes and picture the newly renovated Main Stage theatre alive with Trans people, Non-Binary voices, and allies who are ready to cheer for justice and real stories that demand to be heard.

My award-winning solo play Trans Mom vs Family Court Justice Sees No Gender is being staged for one night only at the Santa Monica Playhouse Binge Fringe Festival. This is your chance to stand with us for truth, hope, and visibility. It is more than a play. It is the heartbeat of a movement.

I need you to do two things right now:

First, watch and share the explosive 90-second sizzle reel for the show. Every like and every share tells the world that Trans joy and courage deserve the spotlight. With each click, you help this story travel further and louder. The more we share, the stronger our impact becomes.

Second, bring yourself, bring friends, bring everyone who cares about justice and inclusion. Seats are FREE, but only if you act fast. Mark your calendar for November 13 at 730 p.m. and claim your spot before they are gone.

Reserve your free seats now to make sure you do not miss what everyone will be talking about.

CLICK TO GET YOUR FREE SEATS!

https://tockify.com/bingefest/detail/329/1763091000000

Do not wait. This is the moment to show up, speak out, and flood the room with positive, unstoppable energy. Let us make history together. Every share counts. Every seat matters.

Will you help make this the community event everyone remembers?Here’s the link to my Sizzle Reel on YouTube:Sizzle Reel on YouTubePlease watch, like and share my sizzle reel. Thank you!

https://youtu.be/QcEFaZsmv0I

Winner of the Transcendent Craft Award sponsored by Trans Stories & The Joy Who Lived, winner of the Daredevil Award sponsored by Electric Lodge, Official Se...

09/23/2025

Father of Peace

09/22/2025

Honored to be a part of this panel. No one can silence authenticity. Courage and community are power!
Nelson Mandela: "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it".
Franklin D. Roosevelt: "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear".
Mark Twain: "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear".
🌟 Day Two Spotlight: Artists in the Face of Personal and Collective Challenges 🌟
In these turbulent times, artists are called not only to create, but to heal, resist, and transform. This Empowerment Weekend workshop explores how radical self-care can become a form of resilience, resistance, and renewal—redefining wellness as essential to both sustainable creativity and lasting social impact.
✨ Moderated by Navene Shata – first-generation Egyptian-American actor, producer, storyteller, and Ms. California 2025, who inspires others to embrace their power and stand fearlessly in their truth.
🌿 Featuring a powerhouse panel of artists:
• Rejyna Douglass-Whitman – award-winning solo performer and advocate for Trans rights and marginalized voices.
• Nicole Soul – writer, comedian, and TV host whose work celebrates Black brilliance, joy, and resistance.
• Jana Krumholtz – multidisciplinary performer and choreographer with credits alongside Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, and more.
• Dimple Malhotra – Bharatanatyam Scholar-Artist and creator of Applied Natya Therapy, merging ancient wisdom with modern healing.
• Veronique MacRae – multidisciplinary artist, educator, and founder of Stage and Spirit, creating spaces of remembrance, restoration, and transformation.
💫 Together, these voices will share tools, stories, and practices for navigating challenges while building community strength through art.
📍 Theatre 68, North Hollywood, CA
Sat & Sun Sept. 27 & 28
🎟 Tickets [https://www.eventbrite.com/.../lawtfs-2025-empowerment...]

09/19/2025

It's come to my attention that some people think I've changed since the summer.

If anyone has questions about that, I hope you'll ask me directly instead of participating in gossip.

I have indeed changed, and the people who truly care about me see these changes as positive growth toward better boundaries and healthier relationships.

Anyone framing positive growth otherwise likely has their own agenda."