The History Of The Transgender Community

The history of the transgender community is not an overly positive history, however to truly understand the community, it is vital to understand the problems that were once faced by advocates of transgender equality. The first instance of the transgender community in the United States media followed Christine Jorgensen's journey as a trans woman. Being a World War II veteran, Jorgensen faced alot of heat from the media and society. Having her life broadcasted through the newspapers and radiostations invited unwarranted dangers into her life. In her letter to her parents, informing them of her transition, Jorgensen mentioned that her case was ``not a too usual case'' reflecting that the problem was ``not as rare as the average person would think.
In 1969, the Stonewall Inn - a gay bar in New York - was raided by police for operating without a liquor license. Outside of the bar, police became hostile towards a lesbian, enraging the crowd surronding the Stonewall Inn. This lead to a six day riot that ultimately lead to ``the founding of groups like the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists Alliance'' \cite{Carter-2009}. Though this riot is more commanly associated with the gay community of the LGBTQ+, this moment in history helped to shape confidence in the trans community. It was the drag queens and trans women of this riot that helped pave the way for many other trans children and their futures. Though the late twentith century revolved prodominately around trans women, the existenceof trans men and trans men discrimination was just as real. It was the work of activist Lou Sullivan -a trans male from San Francisco, California- that started the international orginzation FTM in 1986. The development of this orginzation was not an easy feat. Over the course of twenty years, the official offices were burned to the ground eleven times, and various workers of FTM International were beaten, raped and killed
Without the influences of society, any area of discrimination that the community faces is non-existant. Due to these social influences, the transgender community is forced to deal with violence and sexualization, based on a lack of understanding in the outside community. In 2016, at least 21 transgender women of color lost their lives due to the massive amounts of hate revolving around the community. In the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) study of violence towards the trans community, they describe how ``victimes were killed with guns, knives, blunt instruments and bare hands-by lovers, acquaintances, family members, strangers and even groups'' \cite[5]{HRC-2016}. Statistically speaking, the transgender community is the most at-risk community for being assaulted, raped or murdered, and the number only increases as you add classifications. It is one case to be transgender but if the individual is a transgender woman, the likely hood of them being a victim of hate crimes increases. Then it increases even more if they are a transgender woman of color. The violence faced by the transgender community is repulsive when looking at numbers, but that is not the only area in society were the communnity is met with discrimination. With the surge of the recent feminist movements, came groups with the intention to purposefully