Bullied Just For Being Who You Are

Cassidy Lynn Campbell being crowned Homecoming Queen.

Last night I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine about how she’s now more aware of things that could be considered ‘Transphobia’ (though it’s not really a fear, it’s being an arsehole) now that she know me and that she’s friends with a transgender person.  We talked about a comment in her employers dress code and if it could be considered anti-trans.

Realising that simply by knowing someone I was making them potentially more aware of anti-trans sentiment and more open to challenging such views and opinions was great, and I hope that it is not just her but more of my friends who may have had their perception of such things altered.  The more people out there who support trans people and challenge those against them the better a world we will have.

Unfortunately though it seems that for every trans ally there are dozens of enemies.

Last week American high school girl Cassidy Lynn Campbell was crowned as the very first transgender Homecoming Queen.  This was a massive victory not just for her but for the trans community.  It went a long way towards showing just how much more accepting and understanding people are becoming of transgender people and their struggles.  Especially in high school, where we are normally showered by stories of bullying and close-mindedness between teenagers.

Unfortunately Cassidy, simply through being transgender and that alone, became the victim of horrid online abuse.  Now, as far as I’ve been able to find out about Cassidy she’s not a criminal, she’s not a delinquent or drug addict, she’s not a bad student or a bully.  She’s just a normal average teenage girl trying to live her life as best she can.  So why has she been targeted to receive this vicious abuse?  The answer is simple, because of how she was born.

I find it appalling that in this day and age, with advances in medicine and understanding of the transgender condition and with all of this information right at people’s fingertips on the web that there are still so many incorrect views and hatred towards transgender people.

Lets boil it down to the simplest way possible.  Being transgender is not a choice.  It’s not a decision someone makes to fulfil a fetish or ‘challenge society’.  It’s a medical condition, one that you are born with and have no control over whatsoever.

I thank all of the people who know me and support me and go out of their way to help and defend me but I also ask them to defend others like me.  If you come across someone online or even in everyday life who is being bullied for being trans please stand up for them.  Report the abuse and the haters and give the victims your support.

A large part of the world still holds this view that trans people are open to be mocked, ridiculed and hated and that there are no repercussions for doing so.  Only together, by supporting these victims and the transgender community will we be able to stamp out this kind of behaviour and make a better world.

Amy.
xx

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