Last Wednesday, when Janet Mock, an author and transgender woman, appeared on “Piers Morgan Live,” she probably expected a pleasant discussion about her book and life.

What she got instead was a barrage of ignorant statements from Morgan, including constantly referring to Mock as “formerly a boy.”

After a firestorm of backlash, Morgan asked Mock back and proceeded to explain that he was not being offensive because he is a gay rights advocate.

Take a lesson, Morgan: Gay rights are not the same as trans* rights.

This is a common misconception. While many of the issues faced by the LGBT community intersect, they are not always the same.

After decades of hard work, the gay community is finally beginning to have a place in our society. It is being represented everywhere, from movies and sitcoms to morning news shows.

While the gay community has begun to see progress, the trans* community still has no voice. The trans* community is the black sheep of our society. Our society doesn’t see trans* people as normal human beings, but as outliers. Their genders and sexualities are constantly questioned for legitimacy.

When she returned to Morgan’s show, Mock explained why it was so hurtful for him to sensationalize Mock’s gender identity and life, saying, “So much of our lives are open to dissection and illegitimacy and investigation and we’re constantly being questioned.”

Before Laverne Cox, an actress and transgender woman, began starring in “Orange is the New Black” this year, there was almost no representation of trans* people in the media. Aside from the occasional news segment or documentary, our society has prevented the trans* community from receiving any positive representation in the media.

In addition to silencing the trans* community in the media, we have also silenced them in more dangerous ways.

Not only are trans* people oppressed and discriminated against, but their lives are at risk as well. According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, a staggering 45 percent of LGBT hate murders have been against trans* people. They also make up only 10 percent of hate crime survivors.

In order for the trans* community to achieve the same cultural acceptance as gays and lesbians, it needs a platform.

We need more trans* men and women like Laverne Cox on mainstream TV shows. This is important because it not only shows trans* youth that they can achieve their dreams and find their place in society, but it also shows our society that trans* people are more than their gender identification.

We also need more news segments about the violence and oppression faced by this group of people. The trans* community deserves our protection and it is important that we don’t remain silent in light of injustices toward them. We need to make a concerted effort to educate ourselves about this community so our society can start seeing its members as fellow human beings instead of pariahs.

The success of the gay rights movement has been a result of hard work from dedicated and passionate people. It has resulted in more open and honest conversations in mainstream society and has encouraged the acceptance and validation of gay people.

Trans* people have not received the same treatment. The gay rights movement is far from over, but the trans* movement has barely begun.

Mandisa Shields is a freshman newspaper and online journalism major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at meshield@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @mandisashields. 

 

Published on February 10, 2014 at 2:09 am