How exactly did transgender turn into something trendy?

[CosmicJoke]

Hi everyone. I can't help but notice that in today's modern world it's as if it like being transgender has turned into a trend. The problem with this is, there are real people who are in fact transgender that are not getting taken seriously as a result of the "trend" mentality.
It seems as though we went from being a group of people who were for the most part hated and wanted nothing to do with if we were to rewind about 10 or 20 years.
I am in fact a woman who lived with the transgender secret her whole life, so it does kind of disgust me that nowadays it has turned into something that some people may actually fake being or see it as a trend rather than a medical condition.
I guess my point in making this thread is wanting to know what other people's take on this is, particularly transgender people who have been deeply closeted for many years.
I respect the right for everyone to live the kind of life that they wish to live, but I also feel as though some things have just gotten very ridiculous.

[Devlyn]

I have never met someone faking this. I have to wonder what someone would hope to gain from that.

Hugs, Devlyn

Edit to add:

"I respect the right for everyone to live the kind of life that they wish to live, but I also feel as though some things have just gotten very ridiculous."

Yeah....no, apparently you don't.

[sammie83]

Modern media and communication allowing people to realise that they aren't alone in the world?  Just a thought from very long time closeted person.

[ainsley]

I have never met someone faking this. I have to wonder what someone would hope to gain from that.

Hugs, Devlyn

Edit to add:

"I respect the right for everyone to live the kind of life that they wish to live, but I also feel as though some things have just gotten very ridiculous."

Yeah....no, apparently you don't.

What she said.

I would add that maybe the recent prominence of all things trans* in the media has provided a distorted view or stereotype of trans* that differs from what it was when we were closeted 30 years ago, but I have not seen it being co-opted nefariously in media, nor in person.

[AnneK]

I suspect it may be that people are now better able to accept it within themselves and others.  When I was a kid, it was considered a mental illness.  Back then it was also illegal to be homosexual.  This sort of thing, right across the board, made it difficult to accept what they were.  I know, I was terrified someone would discover I wanted to wear girls clothes.

So, is it "trendy"?  Or just more and more people able to accept who they are?

[staciM]

Funny you say this, as I've actually been adding an (unnecessary) statement to my "coming out" speeches about me not doing this because it's trendy and that I've actually been struggling with this for 35+ years.  After all the discussion, not a single person ever considered me doing this because it's trendy.....I don't think sane people would ever choose this life.

What the "trend" has likely helped with is people feeling more comfortable coming out because it's being discussed more openly.  However, for me that wasn't the case.  In my case, I was just at my wits ends (to put it gently) and I couldn't go on any longer lying to myself and others around me.  It just so happens that "I broke" in a trendy time

[Kylo]

The reaction when I came out from a certain family member was along the lines of oh, you're doing this for attention, and because it's fashionable right now.

I came out two years before the media reported on Caitlyn Jenner's transition and yet the exposure since then has apparently imprinted on some people the idea that it's fashionable somehow to be trans.

[flytrap]

Trendiness is kind of trendy. One one hand it's like the old saying that all PR is good. But it can lead to problems when people start to view a trend as a lifestyle choice. That's what bothers me when I read about people who say they are "healthy" multiples or that they decide to live as separate people. It diminishes the horror of the sexual and psychological trauma it takes to rip a child's mind into pieces.

[JeanetteLW]

   I have never been what anyone could call a "trendy" person.  What I have been is a closeted crossdresser that felt ashamed of it for over 50 years.  It has cost me a lot in that time. I never let myself believe there was more to it until recently. I'm still having difficulties with accepting it in spite of starting HRT. I do feel it was the right thing to do. Well most of the time I do.

Jeanette

[Asche]

I read second-hand about something call "trans-trenders."  It struck me as the usual BS that cis people tell other cis people when some topic is "hot."  I mean, there is definitely some trendiness, but it's among the "cissies."  Sort of like when "Native American art" becomes trendy and you see people creating mish-mashes of half a dozen very different cultures and saying "this is what Native American art is," and then a few years later everyone is running off after the next fad and the Native Americans are forgotten and left to rot in their reservation-ghettos.  Today they're putting us on pedestals in their museums and galleries to gawk at like Central African carved masks, but in a few years we'll be dumped in the museum warehouses to gather dust.

I can't help grumbling that if we weren't so trendy and high-profile, maybe the right-wingers wouldn't have chosen us as convenient hate objects.  (Or maybe they would have anyway -- they seem to hate anything and anyone who isn't exactly like them.)

[RobynD]

I haven't seen any trend indications unless you count the awareness and overall pretty positive media attention that we are getting. Then there is also the more positive portrayal of us in entertainment.

As for as a bandwagon thing, where people are jumping aboard i have seen nothing. Not saying you are wrong but just personally. Perhaps increased acceptance will mean more people will come out that would not have and that will seem like bandwagoning?

[Floof]

I don't agree there even is a 'trend' as such.. Its certainly in the wind, there has been such a huge boost in awareness of trans issues in recent years that have helped a LOT of us to dare come forward and be ourselves because the places we live are growing more accepting of our situation by the day. What we are seeing is not people trying to be cool by coming out as transgender, we are seeing the people previously too afraid come forward as they recognize they are far from alone, and the world is more accepting of them than ever.

I absolutely love that in just a few years my country is now a place where teenagers frequently dare start their transitions, and get so much love and support in return.. When I came out 8 years ago this was not a reality, never mind 20 years ago! It is like a dream that my relatively early transition at age 25 has started being considered 'late', as people here are so accepted and so understood for these issues that doing it at 15-20 is now completely normal.

And if this is a 'trend', let it roll on cause its only furthering acceptance as far as I can tell..

[Daniellekai]

I don't think anyone is faking because it's trendy, like everyone else said, I think it's just becoming more accepted, so we're leaving the confines of our closets with a reasonable expectation of not being immediately assaulted. There was a thread a week or two ago about someone's friend coming out, but it being pretty obvious that they weren't trans in the slightest, but I think that's the exception rather than the norm.

[Kylo]

Maybe some of it has been confused with other things that seem similar but are not.

[sarah1972]

I don't think it is trendy. There is an increased media attention on trans* issues so it could be perceived to be more of a trend. In addition there is a good chance that the increased public awareness has helped a few trans* to explore unexplained feelings and emotions and due to increased acceptance decide to come out and transition. This will skew the numbers since a lot of them have been trans their entire life but simply could not explain what is going on.

In the end it is a good thing and it will help long term. I still remember times where being gay / lesbian was something people had to hide. All the sudden there was increased public awareness and it became much easier for many to finally come out and live a happy life. It was a long road. Society is evolving (hopefully).

[AnneK]

Society is evolving (hopefully).

In Toronto, there is "Pride" which now encompasses the entire trans community, but started out in response to the infamous bathhouse raids, where several homosexuals were arrested.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_Toronto

[DawnOday]

The only trend is being poisoned  by hormones in our food supply and medications. It's setting the xx xy determination on it's ear.

[Shy]

There's always been trans folk. It's just that social media is giving people and outlet and a voice.

Of course within that there can always be room for exploitation and the distortion of facts if it sells papers, or creates more web traffic. Such is the times we live in.
Not sure how I think about it really. Kind of aware that something's changing in society, but not sure what yet.

What I do know is that in a few months they'll be onto something else.

[LexiDreamer]

Hi everyone. I can't help but notice that in today's modern world it's as if it like being transgender has turned into a trend. The problem with this is, there are real people who are in fact transgender that are not getting taken seriously as a result of the "trend" mentality.
It seems as though we went from being a group of people who were for the most part hated and wanted nothing to do with if we were to rewind about 10 or 20 years.
I am in fact a woman who lived with the transgender secret her whole life, so it does kind of disgust me that nowadays it has turned into something that some people may actually fake being or see it as a trend rather than a medical condition.
I guess my point in making this thread is wanting to know what other people's take on this is, particularly transgender people who have been deeply closeted for many years.
I respect the right for everyone to live the kind of life that they wish to live, but I also feel as though some things have just gotten very ridiculous.

Can you offer us an example or two of someone who is transgender because it's "trendy"?

I've met a lot of people in the TG world, and "trendy" hasn't come to mind for any of them.
How much easier our lives would be if this was a "trend"!

I really believe the percentages of how much of the population is "Trans", has been grossly underestimated. The numbers have always been there, it's just that now many more of us are becoming aware of who we are and not wallowing in denial.

[Dee Marshall]

My only complaints is that I came out just about the same time the media started claiming that being transgender was becoming a trend. It made it supremely hard to be taken seriously.