It seems like some people here are trying to evade the issue here. Yes, it is true that people die every day and for different reasons. However, there have been multiple studies indiciating a much higher rate of violence against transgendered people than others. I don't believe this is coincidental. Look at the culture. Almost all depictions of violent crime on TV and in movies have males as the aggressors and are often shown to be extremely macho and the victims are often female or weaker males.
The real world isn't much different. Almost all murderers, rapists, and robbers are also men and again a lot of the victims are women. It may be common to see men walking down a street late at night either alone or in a group but seeing a woman or group of women doing this is rare enough to raise eyebrows. If a man is walking down the street at night, nobody will bat an eye but if it is a woman, everyone will assume she is a prostitute. It is much more common to run into women who are nervous walking to their car at night than men. I don't believe these are coincidences either and this simply looks at the gender issues as I haven't even gotten into transgender issues.
If our society already hates women so much, it shouldn't surprise us that trans women who will be seen as "men who want to become women" by the culture will be looked down upon even more. Unless someone actually knows a trans person and especially if they know them well or are regularly around one, the overhwhelming majority of the public has little to no education at all on the subject. The best "education" the public gets about trans issues is some "Sex Change" joke in a tabloid in the grocery store aisle, some silly character on TV, or an actual political issue that is being brought to light in the media. Other than that, people just aren't informed. It is getting better, but there is a long way to go.
I can give a simple personal example of how the culture responds. I walk to my car and back from places every day dressed as a male (I am a pre-op questioning MTF TG for those who don't know) and nobody even pays attention. I will be wearing normal male attire (t-shirt, jeans, etc.). Then on occasion when I dress in female attire and attempt to pass, suddenly people will be yelling at me from pickup trucks or clearly watching me with interest from a distance. This occurs while I am actually passing as female so I know that genetic girls are regularly having to put up with this crap daily. Now suppose, I decided to interact with these "gentlemen" and flirted with them for a bit as a genetic girl would do. Once they realized I wasn't completely female, things could well get ugly.
Again, it is easy to pretend these issues away by saying people die every day and while that part is true, it doesn't make the real issue any better. Last but not least, we need to understand freedom and rights--especially those of us who live in the U.S. who have been brainwashed since we were little as to how "free" this country is. You have the right to be who you are. You have the right to dress how you want. You have the right to be in any public space where you are legally allowed to be at any time of the day or night. You are not obligated to explain or answer to others over your lawful free expression of who you are. Other people reserve the right not to accept you, not to like you, and not to associate with you. At the same time, you have the right not to be harrassed, threatened, attacked, victimized, or otherwise harmed. Someone also referred to how MTFs should get out of the prostitution business for their safety. As far as I'm concerned, consenting adults have the right to decide what kinds of products or services they trade whether it is a neighbor mowing your lawn for $20 or a girl giving a ->-bleeped-<- for $100 and the government and others who are not involved should stay out of it. While that is a whole different topic altogether, prostitutes have the right to go about their business without being violently attacked just as the neighbor mowing the lawn would reserve those same rights.
It's time people start waking up.
