I have a couple of unrelated letters, but they are short, so I thought I would put them together and create one post. Here they are:
A reader writes: “I am a transman who is doing some research on Transphobia within minority groups (LGB and Black communities). Unfortunately I am not having too much luck finding material due to the lack of studies, etc. Could you recommend any sources?”
I am not aware of any studies, although there are probably some out there. Readers might have some ideas or might have seen some. I would recommend contacting the following organizations for starters:
Trans People of Color Coalition
Transgender Law and Policy Institute
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
With regard to transphobia in black communities, there are some individuals who can probably give you great information, but remember that individuals are very busy and are often volunteering their time, so might not be able to respond. I would recommend:
Monica Roberts of TransGriot
Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler of blac (k) ademic
Kylar Broadus
Readers, do you know of any studies? What would you recommend?
A reader writes: “I recently came out on Facebook as a transman, and while I got a lot of support from friends, I also got 168 hateful, bigoted, and damning emails (mostly from people that I graduated from Bible college with). One guy (a pastor of a church) even said “If you were my child and told me you were transgendered, I’d hope you would kill yourself.”
“As a response, some of my best friends made a Facebook group called P.S. You Are Loved to respond to hate with love. They started collecting letters from people I know to remind me that despite those 168 pieces of hate mail, that I AM loved, and that there is a support network full of trans people and trans allies out there.
“My friends created this for me in an hour of need, but I think it’s not just me that needs this. There are a lot of people out there that could use a reminder that they are, in fact, loved. Even by complete strangers.
“Would you mind checking the group out and maybe sharing it with your readers? I’m hoping that more people can see and participate, maybe write a letter to another trans person out there who might be struggling? Thanks!”
I have checked this out and it looks like a great Facebook group, so I would encourage others to do the same. We can all use some love and support in our lives, as well as just some all-around good cheer. So check out P.S. You Are Loved on Facebook and @psyouareloved on Twitter.
This post originally appeared on Matt Kailey's award-winning website Tranifesto.com. Republished with permission.
