Kara Sutra
Kara Sutra's Story
What's your preferred name?
Kara Sutra
What are your pronouns?
She/Her
Share with us how you identify and how you came to that understanding of yourself.
Trans Woman. [I understood this] through thoughtful reflection and following the internal compass of authenticity.
Tell us about how your self-expression has helped you grow.
My life became worth living; transitioning gave me a new lease on life. I’ve been able to curate a family, community, and relationship with myself that all come from a place of abundance with a growth and community-centric mindset.
Where did you grow up? What was a formative experience you had in childhood that led you to where you are today?
Colorado, growing up in a fundamental Christian religion and being sent to conversion therapy as a teen, helped me to further discover my queerness.
What is a life goal that you are working on or have achieved? How has working toward this goal helped you understand yourself as an individual?
I’ve wanted to be self-employed for a long time, and I have been able to achieve that. As a trans person, employment can be a tricky thing to navigate. There was a lot of fear and uncertainty about being able to support myself, but I’ve been successful in starting my own business and gaining the freedom that provides.
Who is someone who inspired you to be your true self? What was their influence on you?
Trans sisters I’ve met over the years, they saw me in a way my gay counterparts didn’t quite relate to, they have encouraged me through their radical acts of self love, authentic and growth to achieve these things for myself.
What's something that you worry about?
The current political climate, having to escape or flee the country and what that means for me and my drag kiddos, I’d want to make sure my chosen family is also safe and cared for.
What gives you hope?
Trans joy and queer art, amidst all the Political hatred we are still able to come together, support one another and keep on keeping on. We are resilient in the face of adversity.
If you had a message for your younger self, what would you say?
Your feelings are valid, you are different, and that’s okay. And also,o don’t be so hard on yourself for feeling different. It gets better the more you follow your true north.
What's a piece of wisdom you've learned that has helped you?
A mentor of mine once told me, when it comes to drag, don’t focus on being a queen - queen becomes bitch and bitch is unapproachable, be kind and you’ll open more doors and build community that way. From first-hand experience, it’s worked!
What is something you wish other people would know or understand?
I wish more people knew that they were being lied to about trans people, all the fear mongering and scapegoating paints the picture of a storybook monster but in actuality we are people just like you and we want to go about living our lives, using the restroom or playing sports in the same manner as cis people. It’s easy to be willfully ignorant, but if you look into the proof behind any of these claims, you’ll see the smoke and mirrors disappear - there is no monster. Just another human being living authentically, and somehow, people in power find that notion of authenticity scary enough to make up lies, promote hate, and violence.