Without a doubt, it was an extraordinary week for the transgender community. Model Andreja Pejic made history by becoming the first transgender woman to be profiled in Vogue. Laverne Cox, Emmy nominee for "Orange Is the New Black," joined several other women baring it all for Allure's annual “Nudes” issue, becoming the first transgender actress to do so. And of course, there was Diane Sawyer's highly-rated interview with Bruce Jenner, which, as other outlets have pointed out, was notable mainly for what Sawyer did not do (and which past interviewers have done): fixate on Jenner's genitals and any decisions regarding future surgery; conflate gender and sexual orientation; or sensationalize the episode with inappropriate pictures or invasive questions. Sawyer mostly let Jenner speak for himself, even asking Jenner what pronoun he prefers (which explains my use of “himself” and “he” in this sentence).

And yet, one wonders if the media is engaging in a bit too much self-congratulation for the apparent “progress” that transgender people have made. Outlets fell over themselves to herald Cox's “groundbreaking” shoot and praise her “flawless” figure. CNN called the Jenner interview “America's transgender moment,” while Time speculated that it could be a “watershed moment.” This, after Time cover story on Cox last year on how America is reaching a “transgender tipping point,” a phrase Vogue lifted verbatim for the headline of its feature on Pejic.

But if America is reaching a turning point on transgender issues, so far it is strictly in terms of visibility—not, as one might hope, in terms of America's overall attitudes and laws.

Not that visibility isn't important. Gay and lesbian visibility, i.e., the willingness for more people in the public sphere to come out, was arguably the most important catalyst in advancing gay rights in our country. And while we still have a long way to go to eradicate homophobia, at least the laws and the polls are moving in the right direction. With 37 states implementing marriage equality—the Supreme Court is set to rule on constitutionality this June—and a slew of polling showing attitudes towards gay and lesbians have shifted demonstrably, progress is no longer measured by the Ellens and Eltons and Neil-Patricks we see in the news, but by the girl in Arkansas who gets to take her girlfriend to the prom or a man marrying his partner in Oklahoma.

As such, we ought to be careful not to oversell the “progress” we are seeing on transgender issues, remembering that the visibility of a select few rich, famous, and/or beautiful people may not reflect the reality experienced by the transgender community as a whole.