"Why? WHY?! What did we do to you? We're not telling you how to live your life and be. Why do you feel it necessary to hate?"

Most transgender people have asked this question a thousand times over. We don't pose a threat to anyone as an impoverished, persecuted minority representing about .3% of the general population. So why on earth would people spend so much time and effort hating us?

Here are ten reasons they do.

1.) Hate is easy.

Hate requires little effort. You don't have to step out of your comfort zone, you don't have to learn anything, or deal with nuance, or put yourself in anyone else's position. You don't have to challenge your friends, family, or people at the church. You just go along with everyone else, and make assumptions that feel safe and intuitive.

2.) Sympathizing with transgender people is hard.

Identifying with a gender you weren't physically born as is a very alien concept to the vast majority of people. Empathizing with people based simply on their humanity is hard. Having empathy for someone who is very different is even harder.

3.) Most people don't know a transgender person.

Most studies say that only 8-11% of people personally know someone who is transgender, yet approximately 75% know someone who is lesbian or gay. Studies also show very strong correlations between knowing an LGBT person, and being supportive of LGBT issues. The transgender community lacks that vital component of acceptance.

4.) We look/sound different.

It's always been easier to ridicule people who look or supposedly sound different. Look at the caricatures of blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, Japanese, gays, and many others from the past. If an unpopular group of people looks different, it can and will be used to caricaturize and demean them.

5.) It's assumed to be a choice.

The short answer is it's not much of a choice, and similar to when LGB people "decide" between being completely celibate or being themselves. Acceptance of LGB people is highly correlated with belief in a biological origin of orientation. The biological origins of being transgender more and more well-understood, though.

Numbers 6-10 are after the jump.