Being relatively new to the community, at least as being out and actively seeking out support and answers to all my transition questions, I have come to realize that there is so much that I need to learn about out community if I want to be an effective advocate for change. There are so many that have come before me and done so much. I have begun to realize that the issues we are dealing with now and the events that we are witnessing have a history, a history that I am unfamiliar with. For example, while listening to a recent Radical Guy podcast by Ethan St. Pierre, I came to find that ENDA was not the first time that HRC had turned its back on us. Until recently I had just assumed that this had been the first time they kicked us to the curb. At that time it occurred to me that I have a lot to learn about what has happened in the past and what needs to happen in the future. I never realized just how much there is to learn in the process of finally coming to terms with my gender identity. I guess I was always so used to knowing the history of my country, my culture, my community, and my family, and now I am in a position where I am joining a new community, a community with a history of its own.
Coming out as Trans has a steep learning curve. Not only does one have to learn about everything involved in transitioning their gender, but they are also faced with learning what their rights are. Those of us who feel compelled to become advocates for change have to learn what kind of advocacy is needed, what has been done, what has succeeded, what has failed, and what has yet to be tried. As with any community, there are politics involved. There are those who feel they know what is right for the community, while others may have a differing opinion. Take, for example, the DSM issue. Some just want us de-pathologized and de-medicalized all together, others feel it is useful to have us in the DSM for now, while others still see that something needs to be done by the medical community to help cover us and remove us from the DSM. Differing approaches, differing solutions, differing outcomes, but one common goal of having us seen as natural variation, not a pathology or a disease. Coming into these arguments and discussions means that I have to sort through all the information that is out there, decide what sources are reliable and which are not, and make sure that I make educated statements.
There are days when I feel that the information that I need is not as readily available as I would like it to be, or I am just not sure where to start looking. One thing is sure, there is a lot of information out there, and sorting through it is not an easy task. There are blogs, podcasts, discussion boards, news sites, advocacy sites, legal sites, medical sites, and a host of right wing religious nut job sites out there. I guess what I am getting to in this blog post is that I am still learning about a community that is still relatively new to me. If I make errors in my facts or leave out important information, I apologize. I am still learning. Much of this blog is about that learning process, my learning about the state of the transgender community and what the future holds for us. I am eager to learn and discover what has already been done and what needs to be cone, and I want to be part of the rich tapestry of advocacy that this community has built.
