“That is because media has had a long history of mocking trans women.”

My brother in law is gay but no one would know unless you knew him, he doesn’t come off as particularly camp or flamboyant, and even in rural Ireland, no one seems to give a damn. It seems that it isn’t whether someone fancies other guys that causes ‘low-level’ (and i’m loathe to call it that, but to differentiate a more general distaste from a more aggressive reaction) homophobia, but more the stereotypical camp, flamboyant guy that some people have issues with.

We have had several conversations as to whether the campiness is a natural part of peoples’ personality or whether it is sometimes ‘put on’ so as to identify with the community, and if so, is it a hinderance to gay acceptance.

The gay cause seems to be further along the road than the trans one. I think that for many people their main exposure to trans people would be that of drag queens, who seem (and this is only my poorly informed opinion) to be a mockery of trans women.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit I am quite uneducated on transgender issues, so I don’t know whether most drag queens we see are actually trans women or just some straight guy dressing up for laughs.

So I wonder if society, in general, is basing their opinion of trans people on that of the stereotypical drag queen, as opposed to a more ‘everyday’ trans person. In turn, once society has experienced more exposure to ‘everyday’ trans people, will opinion shift to the point where it is more accepted.