Open letter to Caitlyn

Ms. Jenner,

My name is Elizabeth, though my I.D. and birth certificate says it's Daniel. I am 30 years old and have been on hormone replacement therapy for over a year now. Recently in your Time interview, you made some comments that I found to be offensive, and I believe most, if not all, of the transgender community would agree.

I'm not writing to you to rattle off statistics you should already know about our community, nor am I writing in hopes of changing your skewed views on this topic or the world. I am writing to simply put the reality of what being trans means - for many of us - out there for you to hopefully grasp why so many of us disdain the fact that you have become one of the few known, visible voices for our community.

Unlike you, I do not plan on speaking for anyone but myself, as I can only speak from my experiences; though they are not entirely different from those of others in the trans community.

Where to begin? Let me start by saying that at one time I had a great job and a loving family. My transition ended both of those simultaneously, one due to no longer being physically able to do my job, and the other due to a breach of information to my parents by a major pharmacy error. Unlike you, I did not have fame to fall back on, or a reality show in the works to "spread awareness" of a community I knew nothing about. I ended up with nothing, , there were no cameras or reporters looking for my story, and my biggest struggle was survival, not publicity. Even today, that remains my biggest concern.

Luckily I had a friend to fall back on, one who saw my fear and suffering and took me in, provided me with food, shelter, clothing, and even laser hair removal appointments. Everyday I am thankful for her because without her I would be dead, either from homelessness, starvation, or the elements.

The sad truth is, I am one of the lucky ones. There are so many of us out there who are disowned, homeless, starving, and selling our bodies for survival, not knowing a friendly face, or the feeling of a warm, loving embrace.

You, Ms. Jenner, trivialize the whole trans community whenever you open your mouth. Whether it be telling a trans woman in Chicago you also wish she had a job, or saying that if you look like a man in a dress people will be uncomfortable. For many trans people, no, most trans people, all we have is what HRT can do for us, some great makeup skills, and the bravery to go out as ourselves everyday knowing that perhaps today is the day some bigot out there will decide to murder us for nothing more than making him uncomfortable simply because we exist.

You see, not all of us have the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars to afford the surgeries you have had. Many of us save and dream of being able to afford just our HRT medication or SRS, and even that can take years. I'm sorry so many of the beautiful and amazing people in our community make you so uncomfortable with their existence. Maybe, if you were to take some of the time you spend opening your mouth to shut it and actually learn something about any of us, you would actually be inclined to help the community instead of just gaining more notoriety and wealth for yourself.

You are the worst kind of person. You claim to be the voice of the trans community but your words and actions say much differently. They spout hate. Hate for gay marriage, hate for trans people, hate for the LGBT community as a whole. How can these words come from your mouth? From someone who so many had hopes for being our great voice, our greatest ally? You could have become the person who bridged the gap between generations and helped the world understand the trans community better, but instead you chose to voice all the same hate speech that has been used against us before, only this time you did it from within our own community.

How dare you say what you said in time magazine? How dare you trivialize the lives of so many brave individuals? I volunteer with a transgender suicide hotline, and so many transwomen have called in upset due to the unrealistic expectations you have set forth. Now, not only does society know more than ever that we exist, they expect, no demand that we look like you. You had an opportunity with the Time magazine interview to set the record straight and help the world move forward in trans acceptance. Instead you chose to trivialize and demean those trans people who due to either genetics, money, or circumstances cannot have or even dream of having the outcome you did.

In closing, Ms. Jenner, kindly stop speaking for all of us. Stop trivializing all of us who don't fit your mold or idea of what a trans person should look or act like and most importantly, please get informed on the issues which affect the community you claim to be a part of; because at this point, you are doing so much harm and so very little good.

E.J.W.