This month we rallied voices across the LGBTQ+ community to share their stories, the challenges they face, and how we all can use our voices to offer support. As Pride Month comes to a close this week, we present to you our final installment of Pride POV.

Today, we’re chatting with author and environmental journalist Sim Kern (they/them). Sim always wanted to be an author but spent the first 10 years of their career as a public school teacher. Upon dealing with some medical complications after the birth of their first child, Sim took a break from teaching and had the opportunity to dive into more creative projects—leading them to get an agent and publish their first book. And we’re super lucky to talk to them about the stories they tell and the ways they get others’ queer stories out there, too.
 

Trans bans are spreading like wildfire across the country, affecting healthcare, education, and so many more human rights. What’s that like for you?
A couple days ago there was a Pride party for all the queer folk in my neighborhood. I had no idea there were so many of us—enough to take over the civic club if we banded together! However, that night a number of different folks I met told me they’re planning their moves away from Texas. Several long-time friends have already moved away or are actively pursuing relocation to a more queer-friendly state. And then there’s a lot of us who are staying put—some because we have no choice, others because this is our home, damnit! So, it’s tough. On the one hand, of course I support people fleeing tangible oppression and stochastic terrorism, doing what they can to keep themselves and their families safe. But it also sucks to watch the fabric of your queer community fraying all around you. That makes the future feel a lot scarier.Why do you think these bans are so prevalent now?
My current project is a historical fiction novel about trans Jews in the 17th century, so I’ve been doing a lot of research into medieval and early modern European history. It’s become clear to me just how ancient this “save the children” rhetoric is. In fact, it is perhaps the defining social control mechanism of Christianity. From the Year 300, you’ve got Christian leaders scapegoating and demonizing Jews, heretics, and pagans—anyone outside the Church’s control—as devil-worshippers who drink the blood of Christian children. So this “save the children” posturing was used to justify the exile, torture, and violent genocide of my Jewish ancestors for more than 1500 years. After the horrors of the Holocaust, openly targeting Jews like that became less effective and convincing (at least to the broader American public), so the Christian right has pivoted to other targets—feminism, integration, the gay rights movement, abortion, and now trans folk. But it’s still the same move as it was 300 years ago. Same sh*t, different century. This is what Christian authoritarianism does.

That’s so interesting (and horrifying). But you’ve got some positive stuff to share as well. Tell us a bit about The Trans Rights Readathon you put together!
Back in March, I made a TikTok throwing out the idea of a “Trans Rights Readathon” to raise money for trans-supporting orgs in the face of all the hostile bills in legislatures around the country. The idea took off like wildfire across #BookTok, #Bookstagram, Book Twitter, BookTube, and other social media platforms. Over the course of the one-week readathon, 2,659 content creators participated from 43 different countries, each hosting their own fundraiser and setting their own goals. We read over 8k trans books and raised around $240k for hundreds of different trans-supporting organizations and individuals.

Wow! That’s incredible. What was the best part?
That week was so wonderful. I was just flooded with messages from young trans folk, especially in these online bookish spaces, who said that seeing the readathon take off made them feel so much less alone. I saw hundreds of creators’ videos, excitedly sharing about trans books or books by trans authors they had only discovered because of the readathon. We even had a couple trans authors hit the bestseller list that week, or have their best week of sales since their book’s debut. Some of my favorites were the content creators who said this was their first time reading a book by a trans author. And most participants didn’t just read one book. They read multiple trans books, hosted their own fundraisers, and for one week made content they shared with their entire network, shouting about trans rights. I don’t think we could’ve ever comprehended the ripple effect of all those trans stories being told and experienced and shared. Everyone who participated transformed into a trans-rights activist, at least for that one week, and I’m so excited about what that means for trans futures.

It should come as no surprise that you’re an author. What are your books about?
I tend to write at intersections of queerness, climate change, and other identities and social justice issues. My first novella, Depart, Depart!, is about a trans Jewish guy navigating survival after a catastrophic hurricane while being haunted by the ghost of his ancestor who escaped the Holocaust. My short story collection, Real Sugar is Hard to Find, is a mix of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, but all the stories are extremely queer and touch on environmental issues, as well as abortion rights, reproductive and intergenerational trauma, and healing from cycles of abuse. My forthcoming novel, The Free People’s Village, is an alternate timeline sci-fi novel following a punk band who get swept up in an abolitionist revolution. The topics I take on are unapologetically heavy, but I always bring Jewish humor and fantastical SFF elements into the mix to help it go down easy.

Why is it so important for you to tell queer stories?
Because we’re here, and we’re real, and while white supremacist capitalist cis hetero-patriarchal Christian imperialists may have done a decent job erasing evidence of our existence for the last few millennia, they can’t control the narrative anymore. Thanks, internet!

We’re sold. So, what books do you recommend?
Obviously, I would just love for everyone to preorder The Free People’s Village. Aside from my own work, there’s way too many brilliant trans books to name, but here are some of my favorites I’ve read in 2023: Kai Cheng Thom’s excellent essay collection I Hope We Choose Love, Chana Porter’s delightful surreal romp The Seep, Ryka Aoki’s masterful Light from Uncommon Stars, and Rivers Solomon’s gutting mermaid novella The Deep.

And last but certainly not least, how can we help those being affected by anti-queer legislation?
There’s so many ways to help! Get activated in your local community. Join up with and materially support organizations pushing back against these laws, in whatever capacity you can. Read and support trans stories and trans creators. Provide direct mutual aid to local trans folks. Something I loved about the trans rights readathon was that everyone was free to choose how to participate and how to support. Some folks read 15 books and donated a giant chunk of change they’d fundraised to the Trans Health Legal Fund. Other folks donated per page they read to a top surgery GoFundMe. Other folks committed to donating time rather than money volunteering at their local shelter. From each according to their bandwidth, to each according to their needs.