Even on the highest mountains!
Meet the mountaineer flying the trans Pride flag on the world’s highest peaks
Colorado native Erin Parisi said being able to declare who she is on the highest mountains in the world speaks to her soul.
NBC News
By Jo Yurcaba
January 5, 2022
Erin Parisi has been climbing mountains for about 25 years, but, she said, she wasn’t a “seven summits kind of climber” — someone who wanted to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents — until after she came out as a transgender woman in 2016.
Parisi, who lives in Denver and manages a real estate network, said that after she transitioned, she felt she needed a physical outlet that allowed her to meditate and make sense of the world.
“I felt so strong after coming out,” she said. “I lived in fear, basically my whole life, of being seen, and when I came out, I found something that was completely different.”
She said she set out to climb the seven highest summits after she felt stronger during her transition.
[…]
Just before the new year, after her 45th birthday, Parisi ascended Vinson Massif, the highest point in Antarctica, at 16,067 feet above sea level, and she waved a trans Pride flag. She has now completed five of the seven highest summits: Since February 2018, Parisi has climbed Mount Kosciuszko in Australia, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Elbrus in Russia, Aconcagua in Argentina and Vinson Massif.
She plans to attempt Denali in Alaska, the highest peak in North America, this summer, and then Mount Everest in South Asia, the highest peak in the world, next year to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. During her Everest ascent, Parisi said, she wants to celebrate the life of Jan Morris, a trans author and historian who chronicled Hillary and Tenzing’s journey.
Qnews in the article Climber’s epic quest as she flies Trans Pride flag on Antarctica’s highest peak by Jordan Hirst reported…
“The community that took me in when I had no hope, and showed me that it’s better to be visible and free, than live in self imposed exile, and that stigma withers when we visibly embrace our truth.
“We’ve been pushed down, often even beat up, and faced every kind of coldness through our lives.
“Our resilience keeps us rising to the top.
“Together we forged through a 2021 during which the world tried to deny us dignity in healthcare, the right to hold jobs, the right to play sports, perpetuated stigma through comedians and podcasters on the world’s most popular channels, and continued escalating the voices of violence against us.
“We fought back in a way that shouldn’t have to be a fight: by living our best lives.
“This is my answer to a world that lashed out at trans lives in 2021.
“You can try to push me to the bottom of the world, and I’ll still find a way to the top.”
I'll climb any mountain I'll swim any sea
And you will find a trans person there with you.
No comments:
Post a Comment