In the 1950s and 1960s, the United States saw a cultural shift in its approach to civil rights. African-Americans and their allies finally stood together and demanded change. The movement killed segregation, ignited debate about interracial marriage and helped pave the way for equality among races in the United States. Some argue that battle is still continuing.

In 1969, the Gay Rights movement took off after the Stonewall Riots. Forty-Five years later, same-sex couples can legally wed in 17 states (and counting) and more government agencies are granting domestic partnership benefits.

But there’s a segment of society that has patiently waited in line for its turn to fight for equality. And that time could be now.

Transgender Americans are finally getting noticed. But that battle for equality could be a good decade or two behind the Gay Rights push. Has the gay community left the transgender community behind, or are the two linked communities actually separate, fighting very different battles?

Marriage Equality has been in the headline for a decade or more and is the rallying cry for equality among gays and lesbians. But transgender people typically see much different issues as pressing—many of which mean the difference between life and death. Anti-transgender violence, economic inequality, health care access restrictions, restroom obstacles and legal documentation are just some of the concerns facing transgender people daily.

Local trans leaders and activists in both Orlando and Tampa now say that the time has come for the trans community to take charge of its own advocacy. But not everyone agrees on whether the LGB and T should become separate movements or continue to work together.

Transphobia in Florida’s gay community

Michael Keeffe, executive director of Trans*Action Florida, is a lifelong resident of Tampa Bay. He said he has mixed feelings about including transgender issues within the gay and lesbian battle for equality.

“It is difficult because there are pockets within the gay and lesbian community that are very supportive and have been educated [about trans issues],” said Keeffe. “I would say that in Tampa Bay, in particular, [transphobia] is not a big issue on a certain level. We have Equality Florida which is very inclusive of trans issues, but I would say on a day-to-day basis in everyday life, there is still a lot of transphobia from the gay and lesbian community.”

Keeffe, who has headed the only state-level trans advocacy group since 2009, said that a majority of the time the discrimination appears to be directed at trans women.

“There are still gay bars and gay establishments that aren’t especially welcoming to trans women,” said Keefe. “I hear stories from people all the time that when [they] go into an establishment, they are not served immediately, they are overlooked or even asked to leave. They’ve been accused of being sex workers when they just walk in somewhere to have a drink.”

Alaine Jolicoeur, a senior at Rollins College in Winter Park, believes the gay and lesbian community is not and has never really been inclusive of trans people.

Her story of “Becoming Alaine” was recently profiled by Rollins Magazine on its Fall 2013 cover.

“The the way we label venues—the gay club, the lesbian bar—there’s already been a division since the beginning,” Jolicoeur says. “Even with the name [of the movement], we call it the gay movement. So clearly you have removed everyone else.”

Both Keeffe and Jolicoeur self-identify as heterosexual.

Wec, on the other hand, self-identifies as a gay, trans man. He lives along the I-4 corridor and asked that his identity be kept anonymous for this story. He said that the gay bars he has been to are only slightly more accepting than “straight” or “mixed” bars.

“I’d say that I’ve experienced [transphobia] in the form of invasive questions involving physical, body parts—asking to have my ID shown by a random guy, or being asked to pull my pants down to ‘prove’ I’m a guy,” says Wec. “This is probably because I don’t pass as male 100% of the time. I get asked what my gender is about half of the time. Sometimes, it seems that people are looking for the answer they want to hear or think is true and tend to resort to biological essentialism. That still doesn’t make the public inquiry of ‘pull down your pants’ any more comfortable.”

Keeffe says there is shift away from terms like “passing” to describe trans-lived experiences, but that a person’s “passability factor” may affect how they are treated or even targeted for discrimination or violence in both gay and straight spaces.

“For me, taking testosterone, unless you know me personally or I choose to tell you, you cannot tell that I was [female-assigned-at-birth] and that’s not always the case for [some trans individuals],” says Keeffe.

Depending on where someone is in their transition, he adds, he or she might still display physical characteristics that society generally associates with being male or female, which could potentially out a person as trans and put them at risk. Many trans individuals cannot afford to take hormones or undergo gender affirmation surgeries. Others choose not to because they identify as gender non-conforming or non-binary.

Wec said that this is sometimes a challenge that he faces.

“I understand that I don’t pass 100% of the time, because of where I am in my transition,” Wec says. “However, being reminded that I’m trans is uncomfortable. It’s especially jarring when I’m not thinking about it, and then it comes to the forefront. Little minor things get nitpicked at—like a high pitch [in my voice], or perhaps that I’m a little scrawny in comparison to cisgender men.

“It’ll be pointed out, ‘Well, I think you’re a girl because of this one minor giveaway…’ and it’s only one little thing, but the fact that certain people try to ‘get me to realize’ that my physical body isn’t biologically male is insulting. I’m painfully aware of it.”

Keeffe also emphasizes that someone’s gender identity is about much more than genitals, sex-assigned-at-birth or physical traits. He said it is up to every individual to self-define and determine his or her own gender identity. Unfortunately, many people, including gays and lesbians, fail to understand that.

Gender identity/expression ≠ sexual orientation

Gina Duncan, who lives in Orlando, said she has not experienced transphobia in the gay and lesbian community firsthand. But she sees how there might be animosity towards trans individuals due to a broader lack of understanding regarding gender identity and expression.

Duncan is a member of Equality Florida’s Board of Directors and is currently developing a trans-inclusion training program called “Transgender Dynamics in the Workplace” the advocacy group. She holds the distinction of being the country’s first openly trans president of an LGBT Chamber of Commerce (Orlando’s Metropolitan Business Association) and her own journey of transitioning was featured on the cover of Watermark in May 2011.

“There is large misunderstanding in reference to your sexual orientation versus your gender identity. Many people in the gay and lesbian community still think in terms of the binary,” sys Duncan. “There were many times working on the Board of Directors of the MBA where someone would say, ‘Well, we’re all gay here’ and I would say ‘Well, I’m not.’ I would still get looks of confusion from board members. People thought since I had transitioned I was gay.”

Keeffe agrees with Duncan in that it is important to understand that sexual orientation and gender identity are two separate things.

“Orientation does not change [when you transition]. I was a female-bodied person [or female-assigned-at-birth] who is attracted to females,” Keeffe explains. “That hasn’t changed, my gender identity has changed whereas I’m still female-bodied but I now identify as male so I’m a male who is attracted to females. That makes me heterosexual.”

Keeffe further explains that gender expression is also different from gender identity and sexual orientation.

“My gender expression is how I choose to let you see me,” he says. “One way that I recently have put it is that gender identity is what I say I am. Gender expression is how I show you what I am. The orientation doesn’t change.”

Jolicoeur said she thinks that until the gay and lesbian community takes issues of gender identity and expression more seriously, transphobia is going to continue to be a problem.

“I think transphobia is a soul-searching, reflective process,” Jolicoeur says. “It’s not so much about fear. It’s about being in someone else’s shoes and understanding what they are going through…the courage that it takes to be who they are…the courage that it takes to challenge the status quo and the gender binary.”

She said she thinks transphobia is so pervasive in the gay and lesbian community because many gays, lesbians and bisexuals don’t know the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation or, if they do, they brush it off as unimportant.

“There is a gender problem in the gay and lesbian community. Gay men and lesbians need to look inwards and question the labels and stereotypes they perpetuate,” Jolicoeur says. “I think transphobia exists, first, within the gay and lesbian community and has [transferred from there into the broader community].”

Economic equality vs. marriage equality

Jolicoeur also expresses concern that the gay and lesbian community’s marriage equality movement has overshadowed the serious issues of economic equality that many trans individuals face.

“This is why I advocate for my generation, for the trans community, to be its own thing because this is how it is supposed to be,” Jolicoeur says. “We can no longer stand in the back of the margins, especially when we are dealing with intersexionality. You throw socioeconomics in there. You throw race in there. You see a stark contrast between access to resources and no access to resources. It’s just very difficult for some and much easier for some.

“At the end of the day, marriage equality might be an important thing for a gay couple. For a trans person, it’s economic equality—the fact that we have some of the highest numbers of unemployment and some of the highest numbers of discrimination.”

The “Transgender Dynamics the Workplace” training that Duncan is developing for Equality Florida seeks to specifically address the economic equality issue Jolicoeur mentions.

Duncan, however, still thinks it is important for the trans community to continue to work together with the gay and lesbian community—as does Keeffe.

“On one hand we have the same issues [as the gay and lesbian community] because some trans people also identify as gay or lesbian.” says Duncan. “But we also have all of the issues that come with transitioning on the job or at school and the discrimination aspects of that right down to bathroom issues, medical issues, insurance issues, all of those things that many people in the gay and lesbian community don’t deal with. The attempted suicide rate, the loss of income, well-being, mental health issues, violence against the transgender community—all of those things are very real. What I’m trying to accomplish through the ‘Transgender Dynamics in the Workplace’ training is to at least solidify the employment and financial security piece of a transgender person.”

Duncan said she believes in the “equality through economics” approach.

Ashley Brundage of Tampa Bay, might agree that her transgender journey in the workplace like Duncan’s is an example of such “equality through economics” in action. Brundage has been actively involved the Tampa Bay Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, the Ybor Youth Clinic and the Equality Florida Steering and Host committees for Tampa and St. Petersburg.

She doesn’t think that it is by accident that both her employer, PNC Bank, and the Tampa Bay LGBT community have been so supportive towards her.

“In my work history, I’ve dealt with people who were extremely transphobic,” Brundage recalls. “If you happen to walk into the bank and if I’m the only person who can help you with your account and you’re transphobic, what are you going to do then? You are going to bank somewhere else or you’ll get over it. In the three years, I’ve worked at [PNC Bank], we’ve probably closed two people’s accounts and that’s it. That’s a small percentage out of how many thousands of people have I helped in that time frame.”

When Brundage transitioned in 2010, she also looked for a new job. She found herself educating potential employers about her gender identity at interviews.

“My situation is extremely unique. I’m probably more of an exception to the rule because I put myself out there on a daily basis,” says Brundage. “A lot of people who are trans are not necessarily identifying as trans. They transition and then they are a straight male or a straight female or a gay male or a lesbian and they identify as somebody other than trans even though they actually are trans.”

However, Jolicoeur cautions that some trans people’s choices to be out may be limited by whether their friends, families and employers are supportive or not.

“I’m not saying for people to put themselves at risk in unsafe places,” Jolicoeur says. “I’m talking about building bridges and relationships. Never discount anyone because you think their political views or social views might now fall into your category because this is when we fail.”

When Brundage came out as trans, she was married with two children. She and her wife, Whitney, recently celebrated 11 years of marriage.

Though Brundage and her wife are both women, they don’t identify as lesbians.

“We tend to really just kind of love each other and we don’t really worry about labels, necessarily,” Brundage says.

Keeffe points to the Brundages as an example of how the gay and lesbian community and the trans community have many things in common, such as marriage equality.

“There are some differences, but it’s about human rights and that is where we can come together,” Keeffe says. “Marriage equality is a trans issue as well. On the surface. I can go down to the courthouse with my ID that says I’m male with a female partner and be married. But technically I’m female-bodied so it’s a same-sex marriage. If someone wanted to make an issue about it, my marriage would be invalid. Some of our issues are the same.”

All for one, or not?

Regarding the future of the trans movement, Keeffe echoes Jolicoeur’s sentiment about many younger, trans individuals not identifying with the gay and lesbian community.

“Most of the gay and lesbian community [seems to] assume that all trans people identify with them, and that’s not the case. Especially as we are seeing people beginning transition earlier in [their lives],” Keeffe says. “Younger trans people may have never been a part of the gay and lesbian community so they don’t associate with it.”

Wec, who is in his early twenties, said he sees the point of trans activists wanting to separate from the gay and lesbian movement.

“It’s a matter of gender, not sexuality,” he says. “I think that some trans activists are worried that the public will get the two mixed up. However, I still think that the joined forces of LGB people and trans people is worthwhile. Both populations experience similar legal issues, such as employment discrimination. I think that with things like ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act), LGB activism and trans activism go hand-in-hand.”

Keeffe adds that even as some trans individuals are calling for a split from the gay and lesbian community, Trans*Action Florida endorses continuing to collaborate but with some stipulations.

“We endorse moving forward together but with trans folks taking the lead on trans issues,” Keeffe says. “We can’t sit back and let Equality Florida fight all of our battles for us. The biggest thing is getting the trans community engaged in their own advocacy and then also educating the gay and lesbian community about what the needs of the trans community are.”

All of the people interviewed for this article agree that there are some issues affecting the transgender community that aren’t gay or lesbian issues.

“For a trans person to go and get a job, what instantly happens as soon as someone runs your social security number, whether your gender has been changed on your ID documents or not, there is still a trail that shows that I used to be female,” says Keeffe. “There is this instant outing the gay and lesbian community doesn’t have.”

An employer learning about a same-sex partner doesn’t connect the employee to an ID or employment history like gender identity does.

Duncan believes being outed as transgender can be a major barrier to employment. She adds that many people are coming out as trans much earlier in life.

“One of the biggest challenges as a transgender person that you face is getting your employer to understand why you are transitioning on the job, that you can transition and still maintain your quality of work and thus, of course, maintain your quality of life by maintaining your job,” says Duncan. “There is also a huge population of gender questioning and gender-neutral, young people who don’t want to be labeled. That is the next step in education once we can get people to understand even the binary.”

Keeffe says it is important for gays and lesbians to understand that gender identity and expression is their issue too, in terms of how gender norms encourage or discourage a culture of inclusion and acceptance within the LGBT community.

Jolicoeur’s vision for the future of the trans community is still separate from the gay and lesbian community.

“My vision of the future is for people to be educated enough to not confuse [gender identity and sexual orientation],” she says. “My vision of the future is to tackle the rampant racism that is a cancer to trans people of color in American society and provide access to resources. My vision of the future is for trans people to have the economic stability that we so deserve.”

But according to Brundage and Duncan, there is uncertainty of whether a separate trans movement would be sustainable. They both believe it will be difficult for the trans community to advocate on its own unless more trans people become visible, attend networking events and advocate for the trans agenda in both Tampa Bay and Orlando.

“I think there needs to be more unity not just between the gay community and the trans community but even between the gay community and the gay community,” says Brundage. “I know that there has been some talk about creating a Rainbow Coalition (in Tampa Bay) so that we can all be on the same level and work together.

“I would put it out there to every company, every community organization, if you don’t currently have a trans person on your board, you should evaluate where you are. If you don’t have a trans person involved, there’s no way you are getting their perspective. Sometimes we tend to see things a little bit differently.”