My Journey (So Far) with #GirlsLikeUs: Hoping for Sisterhood, Solidarity & Empowerment
Posted by: Janet Posted date: May 28, 2012
http://janetmock.com/2012/05/28/twitter-girlslikeus-campaign-for-trans-women/A few months ago, I participated in a focus group at the Hetrick-Martin Institute with eight other trans women. We gathered to offer insight into resources available for young trans women, and more importantly what we would have wanted (in resources, support, spaces) growing up to make our adolescence a bit easier.
An amazing discussion was sparked among the women, the kind of intimate conversation that can only happen with people who have shared such a unique experience. We may have grown up in different times, with different resources, and different challenges, but we were all trans women who ultimately chose to live visibly and were looking for ways to make it better for girls who were coming of age behind us.
The key takeaway didn't happen in our adult group. It happened in a separate focus group, where younger trans women offered their perspectives on what they wanted, what was available for them and more importantly how they saw themselves.
When I asked the facilitator how younger trans women identified, she said, "They don't call themselves trans, transsexual or transgender."
Then how do they define themselves?
