Brief note: I work on a collab channel, FTMTRANSformers0, on youtube by making weekly videos. Seeing as I've taken a hiatus from that, and the stress I felt trying to maintain both those videos and my own plus my blog here, I've decided to dedicate one topic a week. And since topics are available through May with my collab, I'll be posting my video and my blog will cover the same topic. I appreciate everyone's support and interest in my journey. Please know that you've all somehow played a role and I thank you sincerely for that.
So, on to the reason you're reading this: Trans representation in the media.
Let's face it: transgender folks just don't get a lot of positive press. The lack of our presence to begin with is beginning to wane, thanks to trailblazers like Laverne Cox and Chaz Bono. You also have Carmen Carrera, who shot into the spotlight with an online petition to make her a Victoria's Secret model; Janet Mock, who appeared twice on Piers Morgan's show (which is now being cancelled - and not due to their interviews), and the porn industry's first transgender actor, Buck Angel. Granted Buck isn't all that well-known and isn't out there every night on the news, he's someone that most transgender people (and a surprising amount of cisgender people) know.
"I always knew that I was me." - Janet Mock
The media likes to blow up the idea of being born as one gender and then suddenly being the other binary gender. What is so sensational about this? The fact that it is unknown is my guess. I'd say that America, at least (because it's where I live and all I can speak for), doesn't understand it completely and you have the people who believe there's a fix or that it can be corrected with therapy or medication or Jesus. I am not a devout Christian...I used to be, though. And the lies I had to hide were crushing. It was so conflicting. The very conservative Christians believe that transgender folks are playing God. They preach that God doesn't make mistakes, but that being transgender is an abomination. If God doesn't make mistakes, why am I as certain I am a male as you are that God exists? How does one reach out to these people who don't understand (but may have the desire to understand)?
The transgender community has certainly made a niche in the online world. Facebook, tumblr, twitter. We are able to be who we truly are with less fear than doing so in public. The time has come to transition (no pun intended) from the security of some anonymity online to being another face of society to be accepted in the big picture. "We should be silent" is not our voice any longer. We are becoming braver, bolder, more honest. A lot of this is thanks to the fact that gay rights are becoming more prevalent. LGBT is all intertwined, even if it doesn't seem like it. When gay people were first fighting for their rights, transgender people were searching for their voices. It's taken forty plus years since, but the amount of tolerance has more than doubled and we are moving from a "gay rights" way of thinking to a human rights way of thinking. This, my friends, is the direction we must continue to go in. Thanks to trailblazers like Harvey Milk, Chaz Bono, Laverne Cox and Janet Mock, I feel like I can make an impact as well.
