Pride Month: Your Story Matters – Dr. Bakkalian

by Dr. Nyri A. Bakkalian

It matters, now more than ever, to uplift trans voices and read trans stories, and for us trans authors, to write those stories.

In Grey Dawn, we learn Chloë Parker Stanton’s view of the first day at the Battle of Gettysburg. On the second day, when the 20th Maine Regiment held the far left of the Union line, its situation was dire and its soldiers exhausted and out of ammunition. Its commander, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, took advantage of the courageous stand of friendly units beside his, and chose to advance rather than retreat, giving the fateful order of “Bayonet, forward!” His unit swung into action in a charge that drove off the Rebel onslaught and saved his position from being overrun.

Now is no time to retreat. Our lives are at stake, and if we are silent and passive now, those who would silence our voices forever will win.

Balance of Seven, as a trans-owned press, is committed. So, your stories matter. Together, we can win.

Bayonet, forward.

About the Author

Dr. Nyri A. Bakkalian is an Armenian American queer woman by birth and a military historian by training. She is proud to have called both the American and Japanese northeasts her home. She has produced nonfiction, fiction, and photography content for more than a dozen publications, as well as for Eisner Award-nominated author Magdalene Visaggio’s Kim & Kim. What’s her secret, you ask? Garlic and Turkish coffee (but really, mostly Turkish coffee). Come say hi to her on Twitter, Facebook, and Patreon at riversidewings.

About Grey Dawn

Grey Dawn is a tale of war, abolition, union, and women who forge ties that carry them from one life into the next. When the grey dawn breaks on a new era and a new cause, who can you trust to fight beside you?