So since I decided I was going to transition and even before that to a certain extent, I've wanted to reduce hatred in general in the world and specifically towards the transgender community. I was thinking of starting a youtube channel and trying to educate others about it and talking about specific concepts to try and help improve our image. There are going to be intolerant people no matter what and I completely understand that, but I feel like the huge majority of the intolerance comes from the lack of education concerning the topic and the negative portrayal "we" receive in the media generally. Do you guys have any specific topics that you think would be smart to cover in order to try and improve understanding of trans and show we really are just as human. It's not guaranteed to help or anything, but I want to try and do my part and educate others about being transgender. I appreciate all of your feedback, love you all!

Oh! You could talk about how everyone assumes transwomen are just trying to get with straight men, and talk in detail about how incredibly foolish that actually sounds.

Quote from: ~RoadToTrista~ on March 04, 2013, 02:19:57 PM
Oh! You could talk about how everyone assumes transwomen are just trying to get with straight men, and talk in detail about how incredibly foolish that actually sounds.

That actually falls perfectly with what I was considering for the first video. I was thinking of doing a video overall of "Why do "we" transition/change our bodies?". So I could easily add that in there and explain why we actually need to transition. My cis-gendered friend and I are doing it together to try to give both perspectives if that makes sense. He has a better understanding now and is very supportive but he knows how it feels to be in others shoes who don't know. Thanks for the reply, very helpful!

Make sure you post a link. ^.^

Quote from: ~RoadToTrista~ on March 04, 2013, 02:26:18 PM
Make sure you post a link. ^.^

Definitely! I want to make sure it looks good and people generally agree with what I say before showing the general public. Plus I could use some help spreading it around and stuff as well because I just want to help others have an understanding because I feel there is a strong need for it.

I think a big thing that needs to be pointed out is that we are all different.  Not everyone fits the profile of what some may consider "the typical traits of one who is transgender".  I think it needs to be known that not all of us want or feel the need to have surgery, HRT, etc. and that it's okay not to want these things.  It doesn't make someone "less transgender". 

Religion may be another point you would want to bring up....especially Christianity and what the Bible says (or doesn't says) about being trans.

Quote from: Malachite on March 04, 2013, 02:31:02 PM
I think a big thing that needs to be pointed out is that we are all different.  Not everyone fits the profile of what some may consider "the typical traits of one who is transgender".  I think it needs to be known that not all of us want or feel the need to have surgery, HRT, etc. and that it's okay not to want these things.  It doesn't make someone "less transgender". 

Religion may be another point you would want to bring up....especially Christianity and what the Bible says (or doesn't says) about being trans.

Awesome! That's sooooo true! We are all different and I will be sure to mention there are variances in being transgender and that there is nothing wrong with going through with all of the process or very little of it because we are all unique and different.

As for the religion, I could definitely make a video on that, I was raised in a religious household, but I would make this in another video I think.

Great suggestions!!! I'm writing everything down!!!

Make sure you have every bit as much FTM content as you do MTF content, because I am I suppose a good example of how even in the case of a person that is transgender, we still fall into traps of bias without realizing it.

I have learned a lot of things talking to the FTM crowd here that were totally unthought of by me before I came to Susan's. Things I am actually surprised I had not thought of, as after the fact they seem obvious, they just weren't then.

A list of topics could be:
HIV
suicide
attempted suicide
Alcoholism
illegal drug use
self hatrid
fear
intolerance
violence
filters ( like I have no filters against LGBTQ and I do not understand binary)
fond words like IT and TRAP
TransG* = transition then SRS
Trans = gender not sexual preference
hurting oneself
blocking out the sex act and seeing black
blocking out the memory of the past
being 100% opposite to blend in and hide
having a hiding place in your mind ( your imagination)
when you come out you confirm binaries are bigots and trans have no real knowledge of how a binary thinks
thinking your happiness is making others happy at your expense
placing road blocks in front of your happiness
being transg* is really good and the rest of the 99.85% or the world needs an enema.

-A lot of us don't like being called "->-bleeped-<-."
-We're just regular people, too.

Some common myths to be debunked:

-The only trans people in the world are MTFs. People tend to always think that "->-bleeped-<-s" are all MTFs, and they tend to forget about FTMs.
-All trans girls have to be prancing, princess pony-loving girls and all trans men have to be burly, fist-fighting lumberjacks.
-All trans people want SRS.
-->-bleeped-<- is caused by some sort of trauma and is only a way to "get out of one's bad life."
-All trans women like men and all trans men like women.

Those are all amazing ideas for several videos, I really appreciate all of the feedback and I'm writing this in a document and grouping them by category since I can't put all of these in 1 video. Once I completely finish the first video, I will post a link of it and then so on. My biggest worry is getting people to actually see the videos because if they do, maybe it could someone somehow. I really appreciate all of the replies!

Quote from: EmmaS on March 04, 2013, 05:37:25 PM
My biggest worry is getting people to actually see the videos because if they do, maybe it could someone somehow.

What? 

Quote from: DianaP on March 04, 2013, 05:38:47 PM
What? 

ooops It could help/educate someone, help lol.

I love it Em!
I have thought long and hard too how to do something for education but I don't quite feel comfortable doing a vlog or anything just yet.
Fantastic ideas btw people!
The biggest thing is trying to get the message out as it were. Exposure, stirring up the interest all are as important to an education campaign as anything else because if we can't get people to read/watch it then what chance do we have.
I lament at the fact that venus envy has been taken down (try www.venusenvycomic.com) and it comes up as "forbidden 403", there were some great single frame comics there that spell it out better than I could ever try.
I've got a good friend who works in media/marketing (whom I still haven't come out to yet, but plan on it soon!), I'll talk with him about it and see if we can come up with some good ideas that can help with a campaign of sorts.

Quote from: EmmaS on March 04, 2013, 05:37:25 PM
Those are all amazing ideas for several videos, I really appreciate all of the feedback and I'm writing this in a document and grouping them by category since I can't put all of these in 1 video. Once I completely finish the first video, I will post a link of it and then so on. My biggest worry is getting people to actually see the videos because if they do, maybe it could someone somehow. I really appreciate all of the replies!

I think your idea for an educating video is an awesome idea
When your video is up on youtube I would be more than happy to post a link to it from facebook, to help it be seen.

Quote from: Bethany Dawn on March 04, 2013, 06:25:45 PM
I think your idea for an educating video is an awesome idea
When your video is up on youtube I would be more than happy to post a link to it from facebook, to help it be seen.

Thanks, it's the least I can do to try and help us and others like us in the future. If this can help prevent even one hate crime, then it will be totally worth it. Awesome, I would really really appreciate that because it can be hard to get people to watch videos at first from what I hear since I've never officially posted a video before.

If I may add, an important topic to the list, The right of each of us to express ourselves as we see fit.

It is often avoided because it is seen as political, but if you think about it, that most essential and fundamental of rights, trumps any other argument.

Quote from: spacial on March 04, 2013, 07:07:24 PM
If I may add, an important topic to the list, The right of each of us to express ourselves as we see fit.

It is often avoided because it is seen as political, but if you think about it, that most essential and fundamental of rights, trumps any other argument.

Great point, as Americans(Since I'm American) we try really hard to emphasize that we each have the freedom to be ourselves and that everyone should have rights and that ability to be truly themselves.

What should I name the first video?? Since the title matters for youtube searching.

Depends on the topic.