It was only the second time I’d used a blade to scrape away my beard in the last two decades. Now, as many on the political right turn the gender binary and our physical expressions of it into a political platform, face-shaving hits differently. And my parents talked about it in terms of “grooming,” to echo another word increasingly deployed by right-wing gender essentialists. Of course, logical consistency isn’t driving these attacks against trans, queer and nonbinary people — the point is to stoke hatred. By using a fear and hatred of queer, trans and nonbinary people as weapons, many of today’s Republicans are attempting to subject their children and grandchildren are as bullied, insecure and unhappy as they were.

---