Dear Chelsea,

You’re making a habit out of revealing dangerous pieces of information. First, you exposed the war crimes of an imperialist state. The United States was already bursting at the seams with evidence of its most recent spate of murders in Iraq and Afghanistan; all you did was let that information out. And then, under the crushing weight of a government that displaced responsibility for its sins onto your shoulders, you were brave enough to tell us who you are: a woman named Chelsea from Oklahoma who wants to change her life, her body and her name.

On the night of your coming out, I’m scared for or you, for this country, for all of us. I’m scared because I don’t know which revelation was riskier for you: leaking the war documents or coming out as transgender. I’m worried that the white-hot hatred of a bigoted world will be too much to bear on top of a prison sentence, that the same government that condemned you will never look after women like us.