Our wonderful friends in Houston Texas, having just proven themselves idiots, are pushing their stupidity further. They are now rerunning the ‘bathroom’ ad’s in an effort to prevent common sense from taking a hold on Houston.
Why do they do this? Fear, they don’t understand us so they fear us.
There is only one way to alleviate this, educate them. And the best person to educate them? You of course, nobody understand you better than you. And I mean this for all of us, it is up to us to make the world better for ourselves, no one is going to do it for us.
There are some great examples today, famous people, but they are easily written off as the exception. We need everyday people, interacting with normal everyday transgender people before society will really understand.
When I was a kid just going to school for the first time, my elementary school started it’s very first day of integration on my very first day of school. I always knew black kids. They were always there. So I always understood that they were no different than anyone else. Adults of the time, having lived a segregated live, were still convinced that they were different. Even though there were plenty of famous Black actors and sports stars. They considered them the exception.
So what can you do? Go out and make yourself known. Be nice, be engaging, be friendly. My friends Aina & Heather are two of the nicest people you will ever find. No matter where we are, they are friendly, smiling and most importantly they engage the people around them. They talk to people, never shy, always forthcoming. They don’t look around for anyone disapproving, they assume that everyone is their friend. They completely charm every situation into submission.
Every where I go, I engage people. I never wait to see if they disapprove of me, I don’t just assume acceptance, I make it almost impossible not to. When people do show signs of questioning me I make it a point to engage them.
The other day I needed to drop off a box at the post office. As usual, it was crowded. As I approached the head of the line, I noticed 3 women, waiting to the side of the line. The postal clerks called the two ahead of me, both bypassed the three women. When I took my position as the next in line, I asked the closest of the three if they were next, saying I did not want to cut in front of them. She replied that they were in a ‘special’ line to pick up packages. I replied ‘ I thought special lines were for people like me!’. This drew a smile and subdued laugh all three.
Everyone we engage gets a little more understanding. They see transgender as normal people.
Their understanding grows a bit, their fear diminishes a bit.