Through my eyes: Living as a woman of transgender experienceBack when I was that age gender dysphoria was considered a mental disordered and if you came out to your parents back then you were likely to either get zapped with eectroconvulsive therapy (ECT) until you agreed that you are not trans or sent to out for conversion therapy. And most likely labeled “homosexual” because only a very few doctors recognized “Gender Identity Disorder” and along with homosexual they were considered mental diseases.
In the United States, 71% of the population have never knowingly interacted with a transgender person, or, as I like to say, a “person of transgender experience.” Needless to say, there are many people with a lot of questions.
Medical News Today
By Corey Rae
March 31, 2021
In the hopes of humanizing our community to the general public, I’ve made it my career to help bridge that percentage gap and help society better understand transgender individuals.
The questions I often hear are about the inner workings of the medical transition. As a woman of transgender experience, I’ve seen firsthand how the world has changed, both socially and medically, over the past 15 years. I’m Corey Rae, and before I was an activist, actress, model, speaker, and writer, as well as the world’s first transgender prom queen, I was a kid going through a self-discovery that takes most people a lifetime.
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In November, my mom asked if I wanted to start wearing her clothes, and I, of course, said yes. During this time, she had read a New York Times article that led her to a few medical specialists who kept referring her to other specialists. After a month or two of me wearing her clothes, my mom found Dr. Margie Nichols, Ph.D., of the Institute for Personal Growth in New Jersey.
In a hopeful placeBut all is not rosy…
Today, a lot has changed for the better, and the medical field has definitely made strides since I started to transition. Now, a lot of the process that I had to go through has become shorter.
Verbiage has changed, the way people look at trans people is different, and the way nurses and doctors treat trans people — both socially and medically — is different. People of transgender experience don’t have to jump through the hoops of the past, such as living as the “opposite” gender for a year before hormone replacement therapy.
In much of the country, members of my community are constantly worried about leaving their home, even to seek medical care. As someone who has lived solely on the coasts of the U.S., I realize how lucky I am to have the access I do as a woman of transgender experience.Those who can do it safely need to speak up.
With constant pushback — including bathroom laws, sports team bills, healthcare coverage, and safe workplaces — we are still on the uphill battle. Although it will get better, we cannot forget that we are struggling to have equity and equality.
Lastly, I’ve realized over the years that I wasn’t born in the wrong body, as the quote from that fate-filled People magazine article stated. I am, in fact, in the right body at the right time, and being of transgender experience is just one of many ways of being a human.
It is being seen that changes people minds.
At one time the medical community had put even more extreme conditions on us to transition. You had to blend into society, if people were able to identify you as trans by your appearance you couldn’t transition. If as a trans woman you were sexually attracted to women you couldn’t transition. And trans men didn’t exist.
When I first started to think to transition the medical community said it was something like being trans was 1 in 30,000, now it is around 1 in 500.
As the medical community ease back the roadblocks the politicians have increased the barriers.
We changed the medical profession, now we need to change thee politicians just like we did with the doctors by telling our stories.
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