I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to be part of the San Francisco Trans community before Tech destroyed the diversity and communities of this city (and other cities). There was nothing like finding such a community of people in real life. Online can’t come close, and what makes online so nefarious is the natural need to be a little self centered to get your voice heard and being involved in a real conversation. It’s too bad our cities are dying as an opportunity to provide this community / town square.

As much as I loved meeting other trans folks, I did find out that I ultimately had more in common with people who had similar interests in topics such as music, activism, performing, writing etc and this transcended the demographics. So the trans folks to me ultimately became just another group that I shared something with — once I had the opportunity to discover that community in real life with real people in person (there is nothing that can replace that).

What has been lost more than anything is being able to find a real community in a place like a city where real people used to come together and create real communities and have an opportunity to have these communities mix. We’ve largely lost a big part of our humanity.