Listen To Us!

We know, if you want to know anything about trans ask us!

There were only two people who were cis gender that I trusted to talk about trans issues and one of them passed away. I trust them because they are/were immerse in the trans culture.

The New York Times was criticized for its reporting on trans issues. Good.
USA Today
By David Oliver
February 20, 2023


The New York Times has faced an onslaught of criticism for its coverage of the transgender community for years – but it reached a fervent fever pitch last week after the publication of several open letters.

One letter came from more than 100 New York Times contributors, and another from GLAAD and other organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund.

“The Times has in recent years treated gender diversity with an eerily familiar mix of pseudoscience and euphemistic, charged language, while publishing reporting on trans children that omits relevant information about its sources," the letter from New York Times contributors reads.

And I agree with them. I've read several stories from the Times that have been written under the guise of responsible reporting, only to shepherd false narratives about the transgender community and particularly transgender youth when it comes to transitioning. I don't want to give them more attention, so I won't link to them here.

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I have have been interviewed by around a dozen different reporters, there are good one who did their homework and bad one who didn’t.

The transgender community faces hardships like these on a daily basis – not to mention a continuing tidal wave of discriminatory legislation. Trans people are like Sisyphus, forever barreling a boulder up a never-ending hill. Their journey to acceptance is only that much harder when news organizations paint false narratives about them – i.e. doubling down on fringe medical opinions as opposed to focusing on substantial research. And that's if media covers them at all.

He is right!

We also need heartwarming stories.

In the face of trauma, trans people often persevere and find joy. Experts say the two are inextricably linked.

"It is not only important but essential to celebrate," Sara Warner, director of Cornell University's LGBT studies program, previously told USA TODAY. "Our pleasure is our resistance to the hate, homophobia/transphobia, and fearmongering aimed at LGBT individuals and communities."

Joy and happiness are very important. I have entered a number of my photos in the local agricultural fair, I just about won a prize each year for my entries… except one year*. They brought me pride and joy. That’s one of the reasons I donate photos to non-profits, the joy? Amusement? Delight?

Listen to trans people

Trans people also must confront the mental toll associated with media coverage. Negative headline after negative headline can hurt anyone. But statistics show the transgender community – specifically transgender youth – is particularly vulnerable to a lack of acceptance. 

Before I retired and I was Executive Director of CTAC I researched the topic that I was going to be interviewed about. Both for and against, I listened to all the bile from the conservatives so I could form replies in case I was asked something on that topic. That is what I do for this blog, I research the topics. However, it does take a mental toll reading all the bitterenss.

The best way to teach people about trans issues? Treat them like humans. Meet them, employ them and above all, listen.

Sit down and ask us. When I went to a doctor for the first time before I transition we were going over the list of my meds. Estradiol…? What are you taking that for? I’m trans. Oh you’re my first trans patient can we talk? I was glad he wanted to learn but I didn’t like that he had to ask and didn’t learn before me.

I am a gay, cisgender man, and I can't ever fully understand the transgender experience. But it's not about that, or about me, other than gaining an education. It's about them, and being an outspoken ally.

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*Oh. That year that I didn’t win, there is a story with that. Each year I bring in my mounted 8X10 pictures and every year a lady at the table did the paperwork and said I hope you win these are very nice pictures. Well the year that I won nothing I walk in to the exhibit hall and a man was sitting next to a woman. The woman did the paperwork as usual but the man was looking at my photos, at me, at my photos and he look like he just ate a lemon. He got up and left, the woman completed my paperwork and I asked who he was, she said the head judge.