Stonewall Riots

Because of their relative invisibility in public life, many people have a poor grasp on what being transgender really is. To be fair, this is a complicated issue, encompassing its own subsection of the LGBT+ community with its own unique groups. To put it simply, a transgender person is somebody who identifies as a gender other than the one written on their birth certificate. This often means identifying as the opposite sex, but some transgender people live in between the gender binary or outside it altogether. Typically, transgender people live express their identity in different ways: dressing as their preferred gender, going through hormone therapy to alter their bodies, undergoing sex reassignment surgery to change their genitals, or a

However, like gays and lesbians, transgender people have always lived among us. In the United States in particular, they have existed since at least 1952, when Christine Jorgensen became the first American to go through a gender transition (albeit it took place in Denmark, not here). Of course, like their LGB brothers and sisters, they experienced endless discrimination from society and law enforcement. Local LGBT hangouts were regularly raided by the police, and unrest escalated between the two groups until enough was enough. On June 30, 1969, patrons of New York’s Stonewall Inn rose up against the attacking police force and rioted. The Stonewall Riots are said to mark the beginning of the modern LGBT rights movement, and it was largely initiated by transgender women of color. Over the next few decades, legislation would be enacted to aid the cause for equality. By 1977, trans athletes could play on the teams of their gender identities, and by 1993 anti-discrimination laws were extended to transpeople in Minnesota. In the 21st century alone, transpeople were getting invited to the White House, playing in college sports, and serving as judges, all without having to hide who they were (“Milestones in the American Transgender Movement”). Hardships are still all too common, unfortunately, but much progress has been made nonetheless, and the fight continues to this