The Trans Movement’s Moment
Transgender people and their stories are more prevalent than ever before— but violence against them remains high
By C. Audrey Harper
The Progressive Teen Staff Writer
TRANSGENDER PEOPLE AND THEIR STORIES have been prevalent in the media these past few years. In April of this year, Caitlyn Jenner came forward and told the world she was a transgender woman. Television series like Transparent, I Am Jazz, and Orange is the New Black tell the stories of transgender people, taboo to most television networks before 2014. The narratives of transgender people is finally being heard.
While all of this is wonderful, many seem to overlook the much needed changes we need to see in the movement. Yes, there is way more trans representation in the media then there was ten years ago, but trans representation is still lacking. In films such as The Danish Girl and Dallas Buyer’s Club, cisgender men play transgender women (or in Stonewall’s case, erasing them completely), advocating the transphobic belief that trans women aren’t real women, just men in drag. Another problem with cis people playing trans people is that they’re taking jobs away from real trans actors, who are rarely written into mainstream roles in the first place.
A study conducted by GLAAD showed that trans representation on television was shown that 54% of the trans representation were shown in a negative light.
Not only that, violence against transgender and gender nonconforming individuals, largely trans women of color, has also been alarmingly high. 19 black and Latina trans women have been murdered this year (as of November 2015). In fact, transgender individuals were six times more likely to be victims of police violence.
Not only are the rates of murders among transgender individuals high, but so is suicide. Leelah Alcorn for example, committed suicide in December of 2014 after being sent to conversion therapy and being verbally abused by her transphobic parents. Leelah’s suicide note sparked a social media revolution with thousands taking to Tumblr and Twitter to express their grief with the trending hashtag #LeelahAlcorn, and started a conversion about the horrifying effects of conversion therapy and of transphobia in our society.
The trans movement is still alive in well, with activists such as Kat Blaque , Janet Mock, and Laverne Cox to name a few of the inspiring faces to the movement. Laverne Cox, known for her role as Sophia in Orange is the New Black, became the first transgender person to appear on the cover of TIME magazine and started the hashtag #TransIsBeautiful to uplift other transgender individuals.The movement has come along way, but as you can see, there’s still more to be done. We still need more trans media and political representation, better laws to protect trans individuals, and more allies, but with increasing awareness and activism, we can make a change.
