So, to start, non-transgender people are called cisgender. Cisgender, meaning they aren't transgender and identify as their biological sex. So I will now use the term cisgender.
Basically, there are many things that transgender people face daily that cisgender people do not understand, claim they do, but take for granted.
Bathrooms
Cisgender people, you will NEVER understand the public restroom struggle. Let say you're a cisgender male. You go into the mens restroom. You do your business, you leave. But what if you're a transman? You aren't born male, you have no penis or anything. You identify as male, yet are born female. This is when the struggle is real. You don't want to go in the male restroom and get weird looks, maybe even violent reactions when they realize who, or as some people like to say what, you are. Yet, you don't want to go in the female restroom because maybe you look like a guy. From experience, I've had security called on me several times from using the female restroom because I look male. It's just uncomfortable as hell. Some even avoid public restrooms all together. Some are lucky enough to find a unisex bathroom. But despite all that, its still an awkward situation all together, one thats faced everytime a transgender person has to go in public.
Swimming Pools And Outfits
Ahh, swimming pools. It's a hot summer day and you, a cisgender female, wants to go swimming. You get your swim suit on and go, no worry to it. But for a transgender person, it's bullshit. Reason for that? Because both sides, and unfortunately MtF transsexuals or transgender men who identify as women more, can't exactly go without identifying one way or the other. For example: A transman wants to go swimming, but he hasn't had top-surgery yet and still has breasts. Does he wear a female swimming suit and go, or find a swim shirt that covers up? Either way, you still might be able to tell he's female and refer to him as 'her' and 'she', misgendering him and probably causing more discomfort. A transwoman may want to go swimming, but she doesn't have breasts yet and still has a penis. Well, some cisgender women wear swim trunks, but what about her lack of breasts? She could just use fake ones for the moment, but is there any guarantee they will stay? You'll see her and misgender her as 'him' and 'he' and, like the transman, probably cause discomfort. This makes swimming a weird situation that may be avoided all together, like I've been doing despite the fact that I love to go swimming.
ID's And Drivers Licenses
This is one that cisgender people really need to understand how easy they have it. It's filling out your information for you state ID and drivers license. For cisgender people, that's beyond easy. Put down your name, your gender, your social, all your info, turn it in and wait. For transgenders? The weight, social, height, eye, and hair color are easy. But name and gender is where it gets messy. See, a transsexual identifies as the gender opposite of what they were born as. Therefor, a transman will want to put down male, but it unfortunately says female on his birth certificate. He might go by a name thats not on his birth certificate and social security card. He might not want to put down the stuff on paper, but knows he has to or he can run into serious trouble, so he does. Later, when he has to show ID for something, he might get treated differently when they realize his gender is in fact female. And trust me, that makes for a very awkward situation, one that can turn ugly in a quick second.
Social Security Card and Birth Certificates
This right here can be the source of many issues regarding the ID and drivers licensing issues. For a cisgender person, you might not mind seeing your real name and biological gender as what it says. For a transgender, it can cause quite a few issues, like if you want to identify as female but your birth certificate says male. All your paperwork may say male. School papers, work stuff, financial things may all say male. But you identify as female. Your social security card may say, "Alicia Thomas" or example, but you don't go by Alicia, you might go by Thomas, your last name, because you feel it fits you more. Well, tough luck. Your gender on your birth certificate says female, you may be refered to as female, and you can't do much for the time being.
So to summarize all this:
Cisgender people have it very easy in regards to their gender identity. But some people aren't so lucky and go through hell to express their gender identity. Some people face violence, physical for some like my friend who got beat up, and some face discrimination, like myself who was denied work because I came to the interview in a suit. Oh yes, the interviewer explained that being exactly why. Everything was good, but they couldn't be confusing customers and all women wore a skirt and heels, as part of the uniform. I asked if I could just wear what the men wore, pants and shoes, and be called Chris because nobody can tell I'm female anyway. He said no, will you wear a skirt and heels? I said I won't wear that, not on my life. He said it was nice meeting me and dismissed me. Lets say a cisgender male walked in, however, suit and everything. Probably would have gotten the job.
So anyway, we face a lot of issues daily in identifying as the opposite sex, knowing very well its hard and can be dangerous. I don't know why people say we choose to be transsexual. Yes, people choose a life of discrimination, pain, hardship, some are disowned, some kicked out, some may be beat up, some are killed. Yes, we choose that life on purpose. No, it happens because our gender identity does not match our biological sex.
One more thing cisgender people will never understand: The costs of Gender Reassignment. It isn't cheap and many insurance agencies clearly say they do not cover anything relating to Gender Reassignment Surgery, that includes hormones and therapy sessions. So its all out of pocket unless you get insurance that does, and is not cheap either. Plastic surgery is the closest you can get to costs, but that's truly optional. For transsexuals, GRS is more of a necessity, so you can finally be the male/female you've always dreamed you were but never experienced due to looking down and seeing the wrong body parts. And many doctors who do these surgeries aren't found in small towns. So transsexuals from smaller towns are out of luck in this situation and may have to travel farther out to get the help they want.
Also, you can change the information on your birth certificate, ID, drivers license, and social security card. It just better be done at once, or it can cause issues. Also, it may cost quite a bit to change all that information. I am currently in the process myself, and its no fun at all.
So basically, those are a few things I believe cisgender people don't understand and really need to understand, as they have it easy. Feel free to comment, but if you're going to comment stuff like, "Oh these trannys are all disgusting" and shit like that, feel free to just not. We already get enough shit everyday, negativity such as that is unnecessary.
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