Growing up not knowing I was a girl, I never really knew people felt the way I did.
Something about me always felt wrong. When I would look at myself in the mirror, I would see a stranger staring back at me. Whenever anybody would refer to me as a boy, it felt like a piece of me had been torn out and discarded.
The thought of being alone terrified me. What would people think? Was I some kind of freak? I felt forced to bury my feelings if I wanted any chance at fitting in. But deep down, I knew that I couldn’t keep up the act forever. Eventually it would claw back up and eat me alive.
All of that changed in middle school, when I first met somebody who felt the same. They knew the exact language to describe what I had experienced: gender dysphoria.
They explained to me that they had gender dysphoria, which was distress from feeling like the gender they were assigned at birth was different from the way they felt their gender internally. I had felt nearly the exact same. It felt freeing to finally know that I wasn’t alone, that there were people who felt the way that I did. I came out to my parents as a transgender woman in 2021, and I haven’t looked back since.
Now in 2024, transgender people are everywhere. We’ve come far since 2014’s Time magazine article “The Transgender Tipping Point” in the wake of Laverne Cox’s Emmy nomination for her performance in “Orange Is The New Black.” From Elliot Page’s public transition, to Hunter Schaefer’s performance in “Euphoria” and Yasmin Finney’s in “Heartstopper” and “Doctor Who,” trans stories in media have become far more prevalent.
According to GLAAD’s “Where We Are on TV 2023-2024” media survey, out of 468 characters counted across popular television shows that ran in 2023, 24 were transgender. While this is a massive increase since the organization’s 2014-2015 report, which counted one transgender character out of 814 total characters on broadcast television, 2023 had the lowest number of transgender characters counted since the 2017-2018 report, which counted 17 transgender characters out of 901 recurring major TV characters.
If anything, the majority of discussion around transgender people and our rights has become political, especially in this election cycle.
One of the core aspects of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has been centered around revoking the rights of transgender citizens. In the only presidential debate between him and Vice President Kamala Harris, he claimed that Harris had allowed “transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.” This was the only time trans people were mentioned during the hour and 40 minute long debate.
All over the country ads ran claiming that the Democratic platform would let “biological men” compete against girls in sports. “Kamala is for they/them. Trump is for you.” was a common slogan.
Absent the racist and transphobic rhetoric, there was some truth to these accusations. During Harris’s 2020 presidential bid, in response to an ACLU questionnaire, she said that she would support federal funding for medical care for transgender individuals that had to rely on the state, including those in prison or in immigration detention.
However, throughout her 2024 campaign, there were no mentions of protecting transgender rights or guaranteed access to medical care in her platform. She was almost entirely silent on the issue, all the while the Trump campaign ran ads targeting transgender individuals. It makes me believe that, even if she did win the 2024 election, she would have compromised with conservatives to throw transgender individuals under the bus.
I can’t help but imagine the countless transgender kids who felt the exact way that I did when I was younger, watching these ads, and feeling scared and isolated. Especially now that Trump is the president-elect, I worry that this kind of rhetoric will begin dominate media conversations.
The lack of vocal support by politicians exacerbates this issue, especially for kids in isolated communities where it’s not even a question whether being transgender is okay. While I had people around me that were trans-positive, not every transgender kid has the privilege that I had. I can only wonder whether seeing a politician or celebrity express vocal support of transgender rights would’ve allowed me to discover my identity earlier. I know that it would’ve saved me a lot of pain in growing to discover who I am as a person.
To be honest, I’m scared for transgender people across the U.S. While increased media representation has been largely positive for trans people, it hasn’t been enough. Anti-trans laws will only grow more common under a Trump administration.
More people, especially those in power, should speak up for trans individuals, and demand action to protect our rights. This recent election has shown that electoral politics can’t be the only answer, given that a majority of voters decided to elect a racist, homophobic, and transphobic presidential candidate.
If you have a trans friend, send them a message. Tell them that you care about them, especially after a contentious and polarizing election.
Use your power to speak up. Advocate for trans rights in all the ways that you can. Post support on social media. If anti-trans bills are being discussed in your area, call your representatives. Show up to local political events. Demand that the rights of transgender Americans be protected. Activism isn’t just a “one and done” vote for a candidate, it’s in everything we do.
Trans people across America are scared. I know I am. Show up for us, it can make a world of difference.
