Op-ed: Embracing Transgender Women
Why ignoring the differences between cisgender black women and transgender black women will lead to a less misogynist, less racist, less transphobic society.
BY Liz Alexander
January 28 2014 12:30 PM ET

http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2014/01/28/op-ed-embracing-transgender-women

Writer and transgender advocate Janet Mock is proving that black transgender women are a force to be reckoned with. Her uncanny commitment to push the causes of transgender women challenges traditional understandings of gender identity, womanhood and femininity. Mock is the founder of #girlslikeus, a cross-cultural, intergenerational, and radically inclusive movement with the goal of building solidarity among transgender women, while empowering them to live visibly. A believer in the power of storytelling, Mock has written a groundbreaking memoir, Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More, which chronicles her evolutionary journey to become the woman she is today.

Then you have transgender model and fashion designer Isis King, the first transgender woman to compete on America's Next Top Model. There's Kokumo, a music artist and founder of Kokumo Media, a multimedia production company that focuses solely on illuminating the experiences of trans, gender-nonconforming, and intersex women of color. And, of course, actress and documentary filmmaker Laverne Cox, star of the wildly successful Netflix series Orange Is the New Black and the first African-American transgender woman to appear on an American reality show.

These women are not only trailblazing in their respective fields, they are also committed to using their status in the public eye to bring awareness about the marginalization of black transgender women.