"WHY SHOULD I CARE?"

Chapter 1.

Who are transgender people?

The term “transgender” refers to a person whose sex assigned at birth does not align their gender identity.

To understand that definition we need to know what gender and sex are.

Gender is a social construct, an idea created by people to help categorize and explain the world around them. ¹ We all live in the society being taught what we should and shouldn't do, like, be and be interested in, based on gender we're percieved as. We're conditioned to adapt gender stereotypes, such as: young girls often get pink clothes, and boys get blue clothes; women are deemed overemotional and men are discouraged from crying; boys should play with building blocks and girls should play with dolls; men are athletic and aggressive, women are nurturing and gentle. These stereotypes are often limiting to what is acceptable of a person based on the gender their percieved as and are being enforced upon every person.

Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define humans as female or male. These sets of biological characteristics are not mutually exclusive, as there are individuals who possess both, but these characteristics tend to differentiate humans as females or males. ² Sex as usually assigned at birth, so the term "assigned gender at birth" is sometimes used (AFAB - assigned female at birth etc.), as well as "biological sex". Sex is assigned based on person's genitalia, hormonesand other bodily characteristics.

Sex and Gender are different things: while sex refers to biological characteristics, gender refers to the way we are or want to be percieved. Most people identify with the sex they were assigned at birth and that makes them cisgender. When a person's gender identity (i. e. what gender they identify with) is different from their assigned sex, they are called transgender.

Chapter 2.

Why do trans rights matter?

Trans rights are human rights.

Refusing rights of trans people refuses them basic human rights. Every human has a rights to a name, protection, support, healthcare. Anti-trans politics take away those rights.

People who are transgender often face challanges in life, such as being victims of bullying and harassmant, violence, discrimination, lack of legal protection and healthace. At least 27 trans and gender non-conforming people have been violently killed in 2020. ³

Trans people are also at higher risk of suicide due to lack of support by family and society, being forced to fit onto societal norms, purposeful misgendering, bullying. ⁴

Chapter 3

Common misconceptions

"Trans people are sick"

Yes. That is unfortunately true in many cases. However, is is not in the way you'd think. Being transgender itself in not an illness, but trans people are at higher risk of developing mental illnesses, such as:

DYSPHORIA

Gender dysphoria is defined as psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity⁵. Most (not all!) trans people experience dysphoria. It can be related to discomfort with one's physical appearance (often includes: voice pitch, primary and/or secondary sex characteristics), perception by other people, as well as being wrongly gendered and stereotyped as assigned sex at birth.

Depression & PTSD

Transgender people are often victims of bullying and harassment, which can lead to development of depression. People being victims to hate crimes may as well result in post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.

Mind the fact that these dirorders are mainly results because of society. ⁶

"Trans people are dangerous"

No. This is a TERF propaganda against trans people. Trans people are not any more likely to be criminals, and more commonly are victims or hate crime.

"There are 2 genders and that's nature"

That's funny you say that. It is actually not true. There are a lot of species of animals who have only 1 sex, who have more than 2. Thing such as intersex people exists. Intersex people are people whose sex charactersistics deviate from binary "male" and "female". sex is typically thought of in the binary of male and female. In actuality, people’s genetics and bodies are much more complex than that. Still, many intersex people are assigned a sex of male or female at birth, even if they are more somewhere in the middle. ⁷. Intersex people whose genitalia deviates from "the norm" are often given sex reassignment surgeries as babies.⁸

"Being trans is contengious/It's all the internet"

No. Many transgender people have said that they expressed the desire to be percieved as different gender or felt different from their assigned sex. The community provides resourses for people to feel seen and not alone. Although many people as well have told they did not realise that they are transgender until they found out what transgender means and came to identify with the concept. No matter if a person has known their gender since early childhood or later in life, they are just as valid.

"It's just my opinion, it doesn't hurt anybody"

Yes it does. Your support of anti-trans politics refuses rights of trans people. Remember that anti-trans politicians hold opinion that trans people should not exist and cannot be seen as human.

Chapter 4

What about me?

Reading all that, you may be wondering, "why do you care about it so much?" "Why is this important for you?" or "Who even are you?" Well, let me answer those questions.

Hello, I'm Ash and i am transgender, falling under the non-binary umbrella. I use any pronouns and many other names.

I have experienced bullying and harassment by other kids, and even my own family. I am currently living in a country that is extremely hostile to lgbtq, especially trangender people. I have witnessed laws against lgb and t being signed as a minor, feeling powerless.

I want to move to a different country when i can, but I can't feel safe right now.

Why should you care?

Trans people are a minority, dicriminated against and taken rights from. And while having the opinion of "i don't care what other people do in their lives" isn't particulary wrong opinion to have, the problem is not what trans people do, it's what government does to them. It's lack of protection against hate crime, healthcare and support that is a problem. They want to kill us. They don't want to accept us.

And even if you think that you can do nothing about it, the easiest thing you can do is support trans people in your life and try to make your voice heard.

And to you, my dear friend, who was the reason of this page being made, i hope you read this. I hope you understand how wrong you were.