(potential trigger)do news stories of transgender victims affect your transition

[stephaniec]

Sadly there have been  quite a few transgender victims of violence this summer Does this violence have  any impact on your decision on whether or not to transition. I know I need to transition,  but it does bother me

[Sammy]

No, it does not. I am quite aware of degree of hate crimes against transgender community worldwide (which is quite low in the place where I live, but mostly because of people's ignorance). It did not and does not affect my decisions - but it has certain effect on everyday behaviour and M.O. (awareness, alertness, being picky with regard to casual acquaintances and mostly keeping low profile).

[suzifrommd]

Sadly there have been  quite a few transgender victims of violence this summer Dose this violence have  any impact on your decision on whether or not to transition. I know I need to transition,  but it does bother me

No. I've never been one to let bullies stop me from doing what I need to do. Just as I don't allow hackers prevent me from being online, I don't let identity thieves prevent me from using my credit card, and I don't let car accidents keep me from driving.

No human activity is risk free, though staying indoors all the time with the windows closed is a lot safer than anything else. But who really wants to live that way?

[Kimberley Beauregard]

I know that Nottingham is T-friendly, but when I move there, I still plan to dress to blend in to help keep a lower profile.  However, hearing of violence is not enough to stop me leaving the house altogether, just be a bit weary.

And what suzi said.  All of it.

[Leila]

I know that Nottingham is T-friendly, but when I move there, I still plan to dress to blend in to help keep a lower profile.

Is it? It's been a long time since I visited Nottingham, but what places are particularly friendly?



Back to the thread topic...

It is sad that others have fallen victim to hate crime, but we all have lives to live and shuttering oneself indoors on a permanent basis isn't really living IMHO. Life is all about risk, from the moment we wake up to the moment we lay down to sleep and all the hours in-between when we are resting.

Being of a race different to the general populace, I previously faced racial slurs growing up in my childhood. Society has by and large here stamped down on the racists and I hardly hear much of such insults these days. Perhaps maybe not in every corner of the world, but with more education and awareness, in time society will get used to trans* people and being openly trans* will be less of a frightening or dangerous experience it is today.

[Jessica Merriman]

No it doesn't. People will always find a way to hate or want what you have. Violence is sadly a common event since our first arrival on this planet. Anyway, I would rather die without regret than with. Not being true to myself and living free because of others would cause that regret. 

[Sephirah]

There are some bad, bad people in this world. Who do some bad, bad things. And such people would hate a person for wearing the "wrong" coloured top, or walking on the "wrong" side of the street. The hate and anger is on them, from who they are. Not who you are.

This is a difficult subject for me, and there isn't a lot I can say about it other than... well, you've spent your whole life fighting to gain control over your own destiny. Don't offer that control to others who might seek to do you harm. Strangers you've never met, and hopefully never will. You're worth more than that. Sometimes things happen... sometimes the choice is taken out of your hands... *sigh* but... well... you only truly become a victim if you give in to being afraid, and hand over the hard-won power over yourself to those who have lost their humanity to such a point that they would do something to another human being just because they are different.

Live the life you want to live, not the life someone else wants you to live by making you scared. Then, no matter what happens, you can say you've lived.

[stephaniec]

well said