Hi there! Listen. We could give you the usual copywriting bit about why we exist, carefully optimized for SEO, but humanity is not optimized and our story reflects that.
I'm Evey Winters, founder of the Wanna Learn More Network along with our incredible team. This is the story of how, over the last several years, a bunch of people who cared an awful lot started building communities to help people learn more about trans folks and other marginalized individuals — and themselves.
Back in February of 2019, Donald Trump was president and COVID had not yet ravaged the world. On the 22nd of that month, I began my transitional journey with my first doses of hormones. I went to Facebook, as you do, and posted my coming out story.
You see, I'm from West Virginia, and for a lot of people I was the only trans person they'd ever met in their lives. I thought, well, my story is worth documenting so the people I grew up around can learn who they really befriended.
Fate had other plans. When I posted my coming out message, a new friend in Maryland told me about a community, "Sounds Like You Need Educated About Trans People, But OK," did exactly the kind of work I was offering to do for others but without the burden being on me.
So I took that advice and went to the community — where I promptly ignored the part where I was supposed to let others educate in my place. I jumped right in and started answering questions backed by my years of research and personal experiences in trans topics. Just a couple months later, I was added to the admin team and we had grown the group membership to nearly 60,000 people.
"When the owner of that group retired the space a year or so later, myself and most of the original admin team created a new space that shared our vision based on what we saw working in that group: meeting people where they are, helping them understand that the treatment of the marginalized affects everyone, and removing the shame and fear from improving themselves in a public space."
Together, we created a space where over one hundred folks from extremist communities picked a new, healthier way to live their lives. And for thousands of people who had not fallen to extremism, but were at risk, we helped keep them away from the chasm by showing them their genuine roots with others.
In the WLMN, we know that we're all in this together and that educational and community building efforts need to reflect that truth without shame or judgment. We create spaces where Justice is not a punishment, it's a lifestyle built on kindness. I am enormously proud of our team and our organization and we cannot wait to work together with you.
