((So I have finished my letter to the president, and will be mailing it later today. Once I have the address. [I’m not 100% sure it’s “THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON DC”] I’d really like it if this reached its goal, so… yeah. ANYWAY, here you go, and thank you for the help in finishing it up))

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing this letter on behalf of the trans community in America. While I do not speak for all trans people, I do speak as one of them. We are in need of help, and protection.

It is no secret that you are a friend and advocate of the LGB community, this statement coming from your actions in repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and supporting equal marriage rights. The question I am asking you is this: What are you willing to do for the trans community?



Daily, we are threatened, harassed, bullied, exploited, mentally abused, emotionally abused, verbally abused, physically abused, sexually abused, raped, murdered, robbed, stranded and extorted; simply because we are being true to ourselves. Worse yet, the majority of these offences go unreported because we remain unprotected. There are few policies, and fewer laws, protecting trans people from harassment, discrimination, eviction, or termination of employment. (We are subject to losing our jobs simply for being trans, and that’s legal in many places) It seems that being transsexual, transgendered, or any of the other (self-prescribed) labels under the trans umbrella will make one a second-class citizen.

Many of us are scared to leave our homes, and those who aren’t often experience things that give the rest of us good reason to be afraid.

Mr. President, this great nation was founded with the principle that all people are created equally, with no one greater than the next; and that all children are born with certain unalienable rights. Rights that cannot be made alien, cannot be taken away, cannot be separated from us; and these rights are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness; yet all across the nation, on a regular basis, these “unalienable” rights are being denied, or taken from us.

Currently, in many states, in order to legally change one’s gender, proof of sexual reassignment surgery is required at the time the request is submitted. There are many trans people who live happy lives with their original genitalia, and there are many others who do not want surgery or can’t afford surgery. In light of these circumstances, a surgical requisite borders on being outrageous.

The notion that Gender Dysphoria/Gender Identity Disorder implies a hatred of, or need to replace/remove, one’s born genitals is an outdated one. Gender should not be determined by what is between someone’s legs, but by what is in their hearts and minds. We don’t want to be made special; we just want to be made equal.

What are we asking from you?

We ask for more gender options made available on identification (i.e. Male, Female, Bi-Gendered, Two-Spirited, Asexual, Androgynous, Genderfluid, etc.)

We ask for more and larger gender non-specific restrooms.

We ask for Financial aid for those undertaking sexual reassignment surgery and/or Hormone Replacement Treatment.

We beg for gender dysphoria, transsexuality, and transgenderism to be included in public school health classes.

We ask for the ability to change our gender identities with a therapist/counselor’s letter of recommendation and a clinical diagnosis of Dysphoria/Gender Identity Disorder.

We need laws protecting our persons, belongings, housing, jobs, rights and abilities to serve in the military.

Of all these, a few are simply requests that we are more than willing to live without (as we already do), some are a call for help, but the most important are the justified protections for the people you swore an oath to serve. The rights of trans people should be the same as any other American citizen, as we are all equal under the law. No person should be treated as being inferior simply for the way they were born.



We know that many of the items listed are out of your direct control, and there are few you can change personally, but we need your help in making this push. Having you ask for these things, just as we do, may just be enough to let us vote them in for ourselves. At the very least, we want that chance.



Citizen of your country,

Erica Starlight Baumgardner (Legally: Ryan Matthew Baumgardner)