Ess Welsh finishes out her last year of high school more than 2,000 miles from her home state after anti-transgender legislation pushed her out of Texas.
The stands are overflowing with excited fans as the stadium erupts with the sound of raucous band music. People circulate around the bowl, bubbling with anticipation for each coming performance. In the middle of it all stands a girl with vibrant purple hair and a trombone in hand. 280 of her peers position themselves beside her, wielding their own instruments. Together, they are magic.
A student multi-instrumentalist, Ess Welsh (stylized as ess welsh) is a senior at Grant. Welsh is transgender and uses she/they pronouns. She plays five instruments: the trombone, her first and favorite instrument, as well as the piano, flute, alto saxophone and french horn.
Welsh spent their first three years of high school in Round Rock, Texas, a small city outside of Austin. She is an avid band member, and music has provided her a sense of comfort and consistency throughout many significant life changes.
Welsh began their journey to Portland after the Texas legislature introduced new bills that would prevent transgender youth from accessing gender affirming health care. Texas Governor Gregg Abbot called upon members of the public to report parents of transgender youth to state authorities if their child appeared to have recieved gender affirming medical interventions. As a transgender teenager in Texas, Welsh and her family knew she was a target.
Though these bills didn’t pass, the Welsh family knew it was only a matter of time before they would be forced to leave their home state. Originally, they had planned to move after Welsh’s high school graduation, but their timeline was expedited by the crackdown of policies introduced by Abbott.
For the first 17 years of Welsh’s life, Texas was the only home they had ever known.
She was born in Lewisville, Texas and lived there until she was five years old. Her family then moved to Steiner Ranch outside of Austin which she describes as, “too large to be considered a neighborhood, but not large enough to be considered a city.”
At eleven years, it was time to leave again, and from there, the Welsh family endured one more move to Round Rock, where Welsh would grow up in a place that slowly matured from just another residence in Texas, to “home.”
When Welsh was in 6th grade, they started learning to play the trombone. “I’ve had a different private lesson teacher every year (since) I’ve had a private lesson teacher,” she says, “So I’ve had a lot of different perspectives to help me get better at trombone.”
Since she started playing, Welsh has grown into herself more, her musical expression and skill blossoming alongside.
Welsh came out as transgender at 14 years old on June 1, 2019. For her parents, it was a tough adjustment, but they eventually came around to accept and embrace their daughter’s identity, and have since become vocal advocates for her.
When Welsh came out as trans at her school, she was met with a dramatically different response: one that lacked altogether. There were no opinions voiced, neither harsh nor supportive, and, at least to their face, people mostly kept quiet about the whole thing.
The political situation in Texas was difficult for Welsh and her family to navigate, because they knew that the agenda of the state government was always a threat to her safety and the fundamentals of her identity.
Despite Texas’s conserative politics, Welsh was fortunate to have positive influences that have helped them feel loved and supported. She had amazing friends, many of whom also identified as a part of the LGBTQ+ community, supportive teachers and queer influences within the music industry.
One person that especially influenced Welsh was her chemistry teacher at Round Rock High School, Lestic, an openly lesbian woman. Welsh looked up to her, and always felt a sense of safety in her class. Looking back, Welsh says, “(Lestic) was not just a great teacher, but a great person. She was sad that I was leaving because she liked me as a student, but she was happy that I was getting out of Texas.”
Marching band has also had a massive impact on Welsh. In Texas, it served as a grounding force, and gave her a space to express herself in an otherwise confining environment.
For the people of the Lone Star state, football is life, and with a love for football came an excitement about marching band. Welsh says, “Band was a lot bigger in Texas… in Round Rock High School, about 8% of the school was in band.”
Unlike the bands at Grant that never take the field, Round Rock High’s band performed and marched at every football halftime show. Halftime shows were always exciting, providing Welsh the opportunity to stand out and play as well as she could and as loud as possible. Her music always lingered in the air long after the show had come to an end.
Eventually, the challenges of living in Texas outweighed the pull of friends and marching band, and the benefits were no longer enough to keep the Welsh family there. When friends heard that Welsh was leaving, they knew that her absence would leave a big hole, but were happy that she was going somewhere that would hopefully be safer and more accepting.
On March 26, 2022, the Welsh family packed their bags and hit the road, embarking on their journey to the West coast. The drive was long: an estimated 2,000 miles over 32 hours. After four days of nearly non-stop driving, they arrived in Portland.
For Welsh, Portland offers a stark contrast to their home in Texas. They say that the walkability of Portland is a benefit, the houses are older and the selection of local cuisine is new and exciting.
She explains how it was hard to get anywhere in Round Rock. “In Texas, if you wanted to go anywhere, you needed a car. Especially since public transit was almost non-existent.”
They appreciate the city’s functionality, with multiple modes of accessible transportation, such as the MAX system and local buses.
Welsh’s appreciation for Portland doesn’t diminish their homesickness for Texas. Welsh has had a rubber duck collection since she was young, consisting of unicorn ducks, bear ducks and safari animal ducks, and it is something that she has brought with her to her new home in Portland. After receiving a photo of her new home, one of her friends scoured the internet until they were able to track down Welsh’s new address, which they used to ship a brand new rubber duck to add to Welsh’s collection.
Welsh has found the general attitude towards expression of gender and sexuality at Grant a lot different than it was in Round Rock. In all their years of being there, they were only asked to share their pronouns once. On the contrary, Welsh says, “The only class (at Grant) that I haven’t been asked my pronouns was the class where we weren’t asked to do an introduction.”
Welsh says that of everything, the most significant change in Portland, post-arrival, is the absence of marching band. It was always something that she could turn to in times of uncertainty, and it provided them a sense of community.
Since Grant doesn’t have marching band, Welsh is filling her time by pursuing other areas of interest, especially in the performing arts. At Round Rock, the only elective options were band, orchestra and choir, but at Grant, Welsh has been able to participate in audio engineering, wind ensemble, jazz lab and psychology. In this way, Grant has given them more avenues for creativity, and a space to further pursue their love for music.
This year, Welsh hopes to become more familiar with Portland and all that the city has to offer. After she finishes high school, Welsh plans to attend college and is looking at in-state options. They hope to pursue a degree in music or science, expanding their knowledge in areas where they excel and find passion.
As Welsh continues their journey past high school, they know that music will remain a prevalent source of joy and comfort in times of turmoil and change. She has proved to be resilient through her move to Portland, finding excitement in new subjects, people and city attractions. As her life in Oregon begins, Welsh reflects on her complicated relationship with Texas—a place that wasn’t able to nurture or protect her, but was home nonetheless.
