Dear Landmark readers,
Since last January, the name Trent Brown has appeared in bylines in each week’s edition of the Landmark in print and online. I’m still the same reporter whose writing you’ve grown to know and, I hope, depend on for local news, but, starting this week, my work will appear under a new byline that more accurately reflects my identity. My name is Stella Brown, and I am a transgender woman. I have been transitioning privately for the past year or so with the support of my family and friends, and I have truly never been happier or felt more alive or like myself.
I’m hopeful that most of you will accept me for who I am as I continue to cover the wonderful villages of Brookfield and Riverside for the Landmark, though I’m sure some of you will bristle at this news. Seeing as trans people make up less than 1% of the United States population, many of you have likely never knowingly met a trans person. Even fewer of you can call us friends, family or loved ones. Well, now you can say you know at least one.
Coming out professionally was not an easy decision. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, next to accepting my identity within myself, something that took years. But with my rights and those of my trans brothers, sisters and siblings under direct federal attack, I hope to show each and every one of you that, at the end of the day, we’re just people. Like you and your loved ones, all I want is the freedom to dress how I like, be known by my own name and figure out what the hell I’m going to eat for dinner.
Some of you out there may seek to disrespect or degrade me. While I would prefer not to become the recipient of hate, I can’t control you, and I’m sure this article will have made its way into the hands of at least one transphobe. If, after reading all this, you still wish to make my day worse, all I can ask is that you get creative with it. You could call me slurs or say I’ll always be a man, but, frankly, I’ve heard far worse things from far more important people in my life and still woken up the next day. You can do your damnedest to make me feel small, and I’ll keep doing mine to be the best local journalist I can be.
Going forward, you can reach me with news tips, questions or warm regards at my new email address, stella@rblandmark.com. I’m excited to shed my fear of authenticity and bring my full self to the newsroom — and to Brookfield and Riverside — from here on out.
Sincerely,
Stella Brown (she/her)
