Stories Archives • Trans & Caffeinated

Six TGNC Folx Share How Visibility Paves the Way to a Transer Future

“That is the dream; that through our continued visibility, through our adamant refusal to be erased, ignored, swept aside or forgotten, society will be forced to reckon with their feelings about TGNC folx.”

Transgender Healthcare is NOT Cosmetic. Employers, it’s time to step up your game.

Go to bat with insurance companies and demand trans-inclusive healthcare. Make clear to these companies that you will no longer pay into their plans if they decline to offer comprehensive coverage for gender-affirming care. Once you’ve developed a fully accessible, comprehensive benefits package for transgender employees, distribute this information company-wide.

Fostering a Trans Inclusive Therapeutic Environment: A Client Perspective

Believe us, support us, and help us grow. That is what the trans community needs from you. Our community is asking for your help. The question is — are you listening?

SPOTLIGHT ON: Rolande Edwards

What made me feel so safe to explore on Birthright was the absence of negative reactions and the presence of enthusiastic and vocal support and love from the TGNC folx on the trip. It was that love that opened the gates for Rollie to finally start to come out and show herself.

When You Say that We’re “Asking for Too Much Too Fast”

Increased understanding and acceptance of marginalized folx may begin with the work of activists, but it most certainly ends with the work of allies — in order for transgender acceptance to advance, allies must listen to and learn about the transgender commmunity.

The Nurturing Power of a Trans Community

I could not be where I am today — personally, professionally, any of it — without the endless support and guidance of my incredible community.

I Do Not Have To Perform Your Emotional Labor

“People will become educated if they want to be educated. People will become better allies if they want to become better allies. People openly making discriminatory comments or asking me invasive questions are not asking to be educated, nor have they earned my labor.”

This Trans Day of Remembrance, Take Action to Honor Those We Have Lost

“And why aren’t we doing more to protect our trans siblings while they’re alive in hopes that there comes a November 20th when there are no names left to read?”

I Always Knew She Was My Sister: On Loving My Transgender Sibling

“I’ve had people ask me how I “dealt with it,” but I can honestly say that it has never been something I’ve had to “deal with.” It was a process through which I had to support my sister – period.”

What I’ve Learned About Trans Advocacy and Education in the Workplace

“Slowly, I began to weave advocacy for my community into my work as a barista, first through offering resources and information to those who needed these and more recently by hosting trans literacy trainings.”

Through a Mother’s Eyes: Learning to Celebrate my Transgender Daughter

“Many people have congratulated me on handling this so well. They say, ‘I don’t know if I could have done it.’ Emphatically, I respond, ‘Yes, you would! If you love your child and want to keep them in your life, you would. It’s that simple, though admittedly not easy.'”

The Troubling Reality of Dating While Trans

“Though most adults will acknowledge that dating is frustrating and a bit exhausting, there is an additional level of complexity for transgender people that stems from our identity.”

Crazy Little Thing Called “Passing”

“I dream of a world in which ‘passing’ is a dead concept and people everywhere are simply allowed to be and to live and feel amazing and beautiful and wonderful just the way that they are. Unfortunately, achieving that on a global scale is a long fight away. But on a much smaller scale, each of us has some amount of power in empowering and validating all of our trans siblings.”

Coming Out: The Most Powerful Tool in our Queer Arsenal

“Years of powerful, inspiring, authentic queer people rising up against an oppressive cishetero patriarchy and coming out in spite of overwhelming hatred has brought us here. Let’s do them justice and fight for a better future for the queer folks of tomorrow by continuing to tell our stories.”

“You Don’t Look Transgender!”

“When other people witness us facing these aggressions in a single fleeting instance, they may interpret our reactions as overreactions. But micro-aggressions rarely occur as isolated incidents. Instead, they occur as frequent and ongoing frustrations and triggers that wear us down over time as we battle to live our everyday lives.”