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The eruption in the mainstream visibility of trans people over the past few years has been bittersweet. In my case, it provided me with the language and confidence to begin to understand myself, and my own need to live authentically. When I was a teenager, I simply didn’t realise that trans people could exist and pursue joyful lives in the diverse ways that they have throughout history. So I am immensely grateful for this new and more accepting era, and for the work of trans people who have gone before me to help bring it about. But, like every civil rights movement in history, the path to progress isn’t always smooth. While trans people are gaining more acceptance and compassion in many arenas, much of the global political climate has grown hostile.

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In the United States, the current federal administration is openly hostile to the civil liberties of transgender people and has signalled that it may move to reverse current protections. In the UK, a government consultation on simplifying the process to change legal gender has become a vicious and distressing media debate on the validity of trans people. You may be hearing more about us, but when there are no openly trans editors, staff writers, directors or producers at major media organisations, and no openly trans people in Parliament, very often we are not in control of the terms of the discussion.

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This causes huge problems as it directs focus away from the very real evidence that trans people experience disproportionate levels of discrimination in all areas of life, from schools to nursing homes. Instead, the focus is often on asking why trans people exist at all, or why we ought to be respected as the gender we are. Much of my own work as a journalist writing on these issues is to try and change the conversation – for example, many negative media tropes raise concerns about trans rights try and link trans women with being sexual predators. Distressing as this is, it also obscures the reality that many trans women I know, like many non-trans women, are themselves survivors of sexual and domestic violence. Trans children and their families, too, are misunderstood and harassed by those who simply refuse to accept evidence that accepting young trans people for who they are and – in some cases – seeking clinical support actually improves their mental health and quality of life.

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It is no coincidence that we see conservative and regressive political forces simultaneously attack trans rights, the freedoms of gay and bisexual people, and the bodily autonomy of women. All three are interconnected issues that centre around how we see gender roles, and the right of people who have been historically disadvantaged to pursue their own destiny. Often, people tell me they’re wary of "trans issues" because the discussion seems heated, or the language around it complicated. But human empathy is often displayed in simple acts: challenging someone when they make a derogatory joke, or smiling at a trans person at the bus stop who looks anxious. I’d like people to remember we’re not an ideology or an agenda: mostly we’re people whose gender identities are a very small part of who we are, and we’re just trying to get on with our lives. I hope to see the day where acceptance of this fact is the norm. I’m hopeful I will.