Our “modern” society continues to demonstrate its capacity to want to keep marginalized communities in a place of suffering.
Many may have read that such things as having clothes for work, and adequate and affordable transportation are common obstacles (to name a few) for homeless persons finding successful employment.
There has come into play what I call “comfort socioeconomic barriers” that have been established and limit members of the transgender community.
The two sides of the argument haven’t changed since classist warfare initiated. The well-off are infuriated by lower class members of society “leeching” off social welfare demanding they get jobs and “contribute to society”. In the same breath you hear these same classist and often white privileged persons complaining about the homely or less kept persons serving them in minimum wage jobs and how such a terrible experience they had as a result of said interaction.
The transgender community falls into this paradigm very often as well – yet it is often to not passing sufficiently as members of society in addition to potential additional socioeconomic limits. Whether or not we look cis or not. So the transgender person endures discomfort (at the very least) due to anything else but simply because of their expected appearance.
As a massage therapist I often endure this in misappropriation of my service as negative because of a clients discomfort in my being transgender. This falls into two major variations of experiences. Either cisgender males who feel it necessary to sexually assault me (what I call “girl checking”) by groping my genitalia or TERFs (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists) who fabricate tales of poor service because they aren’t comfortable with me. While I am fortunate that these are not constant (as may someone who works a minimum wage job where people are often simply treated horridly because of how we treat service or retail employees) it’s enough to merit a mention.
This war on who is tolerated to be in our midst is not something new. Our society simply finds a new target for those who are well off to justify their hatred and bigotry.
There is however something that cannot cease. Creating awareness. Right now it’s ok for people to make up stories to try to get me fired or sexually violate me because of simply who I am. The world is not as pretty as you think it is.
Ysandril Morrigan is a passionate transgender female activist and single mother. She fights for the equality and fair treatment of her transgender kin, sharing her stories, ambition and contribution to the LGBTQIA+ community.