Visibility

Another “Transgender Day of Visibility” has come and gone. In fact, a few organizations such as Trans Ohio made it a month long look into various aspects of transgender life.

With all the positive push to let the public know we are here and really aren’t all that different from everyone else comes many other issues.

Of course the main one is how hard we work to assimilate ourselves into the world of cis women as a whole. Once we have accomplished moving around in the feminine world, do we want to give it all up? I imagine most of us dread the Hey! that is a man in a dress syndrome.

Then there is the security problem we face as trans women. It remains a tragic statistic how many transgender women are attacked and even killed in the world today. If we are not a part of the fortunate few who have natural passing privilege, are we subjecting ourselves to violence? Conversely, if you are a young and pretty trans girl and don’t let your potential boyfriends know of your gender past, again do you open yourself open to violence.

All questions which are not easily answered every year when we come to the Transgender Day of Visibility.

On the other hand, being visible can be as simple as going out in public as your authentic self. Of course, even that has been curtailed due to the effects of the pandemic. Everything helps! I…