You had to fit into their standards... it wasn’t so much for the medical requirements, but rather your sexual orientation and how well you could assimilate into society. Trans women had to be sexually attracted to men, and, well, trans men didn’t exist. The guys were written off as just lesbians.
If you talk to someone from that time or read something from it, you will find out that we had a reputation for being liars according to the doctors. We would say we were attracted to men, but we dated women.
Eventually, they changed the rules to drop the sexual orientation and assimilation requirements (though many other roadblocks to transition still remain). Around that time, conservatives started using us as scapegoats... as a diversion from the real issues.
The golden years were from around the turn of the century until Trump got elected to his first term; then, the pendulum didn't just swing to the right, it was slammed over to the right.
I remember the Lavender Scare.
I remember "Save our Children."
But this is different. This is an organized, government-led attack on a minority. We haven't seen this since the 1930s. We have seen this throughout history: when one group begins gaining social acceptance, conservatives get energized and try to put them "in their place!" But they don't stop us... they only slow us down. And we shall prevail!
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