Think before you speak.
The word transgender brings up a lot of emotion and opinions, but the true meaning is always overlooked. Not the Webster Dictionary meaning, but the meaning that each transgender individual feels every day. Hate, harassment, judgment and even beating are what these individuals live with every day from social media to even at home. Unfortunately, parents have a huge influence on these children so when they say hateful things also disowning their child, it can lead to dangerous things. Due to the hate from the parents, the child can end up with identity issues, suicidal ideations, self-harming behavior and even running away from home. The cruelty these children face in their everyday life is a never-ending battle, and making the home be a war zone is not helping them by any means.
Transgender people feel trapped and unwanted because they are trying to be who they are inside. Explain to me why a female can dress like a male and be accepted as a tomboy; also celebrities can have plastic surgery on every inch of their body and are still idolized. Even a person who decides to dress in all black with heavy dark makeup and piercings is accepted more by society than a transgender person. Also, some terrorist groups are more widely accepted in some aspects than transgender individuals, and these people’s goals are to destroy the government of the United States of America. In the end, we are humans. Human beings with feelings, wants and needs, which do not ever change. I am made of flesh, blood, bones and tissue. So is a transgender individual.
Equal rights for African Americans were legalized the 1960s after multiple deaths and protests. What that population went through to receive equal rights was unbearable. In 2016 there are still active Ku Klux Klan groups and people who openly hate African Americans nearly 56 years later, and the problem has yet to be resolved. Every issue takes time, and being the uprising and new voices for transgender people, like Caitlyn Jenner (previously known as Bruce Jenner), that are bringing attention to the issue at hand will take years also. It is depressing to think that these people will have suffered through decades of hate.
Overall every human being deserves to be treated with respect and as an equal, end of story. Each human being has the right to be happy and live the life they are happy with. If any of you can take anything out of my words, please be more open to life and how people want to live their life. You have the right to choose how to live your life. Let other have the same right. Parents, whether your child is transgender or not, please be reasonable about how you act, and choose your words carefully. I know I am not a parent, nor am I someone to criticize parenting styles. I just hope my words open your eyes to how a parent's view of their child's transition to the non-binary gender can affect them negatively, mentally and physically.
