elenajkelly

Don't tell me how to dress. Tell men not to rape.

It saddens me to see so much ignorance of transgender people. A man wearing a dress is a cross-dresser, not a transgender person. Transgender women are not cross-dressers or drag queens. Drag queens are men, typically gay men, who dress like women for the purpose of entertainment. Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender identity is someone's internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman (or as someone outside of that gender binary). For transgender people, the sex they were assigned at birth and their own internal gender identity do not match. Trying to change a person's gender identity is no more successful than trying to change a person's sexual orientation -- it doesn't work. So most transgender people seek to bring their bodies more into alignment with their gender identity.People under the transgender umbrella may describe themselves using one (or more) of a wide variety of terms, including (but not limited to) transgender, transsexual, and genderqueer. Transgender people may or may not alter their bodies hormonally and/or surgically, but it's important to know that being transgender is not dependent upon medical procedures.Transgender is an adjective and should never be used as a noun. Rather than saying "Max is a transgender," say "Max is a transgender person." And transgender never needs an "-ed" at the end.

Transgender people face staggering levels of discrimination and violence. In 2012, 53% of anti-LGBT homicide victims were transgender women. According to "Injustice at Every Turn," a report by the (USA) National Center for Transgender Equality and The Task Force:

Transgender people are four times more likely to live in poverty.

Transgender people experience unemployment at twice the rate of the general population, with rates for people of color up to four times the national unemployment rate.

90% of transgender people report experiencing harassment, mistreatment or discrimination on the job.

22% of respondents who have interacted with police reported harassment by police, with much higher rates reported by people of color. Almost half of the respondents (46%) reported being uncomfortable seeking police assistance.

41% of respondents reported attempting suicide, compared to 1.6% of the general population.

Transgender people, particularly transgender women of color, face shockingly high rates of murder, homelessness, and incarceration. Most states and countries offer no legal protections in housing, employment, health care, and other areas where individuals experience discrimination based on their gender identity or expression.

There is such a long history of violence against members of the transgender community so that hiding this key part of their identity isn’t just about keeping a secret, but sometimes literally about staying alive. And when we publicly push them to self-disclose, we are being the worst type of bullies.

“On a daily basis, transgender people face unwelcome and often hostile scrutiny at school, at work, or even when just walking down the street,” says Nick Adams, a transgender staff member at GLAAD. “Creating an atmosphere in which people who may or may not be transgender are stalked and hounded sends a poisonous message that being transgender is something strange and shameful, a dirty secret to be uncovered. Real transgender people are harmed by this behavior.”

That little comment you make at the expense of a transgender person might get some laughs from your friends, but it also just might contribute to the death of a transgender kid, be it suicide or murder at the hands of those who choose to express their transphobia through homicide. When you become an ally of transgender people, your actions and words will help make society a better, safer place for transgender people – and for non-transgender people who violate gender expectations.