The best thing I’ve done for my fellow trans community, by far, is just being my fun and joyous self out in the world without calling attention to being trans. I’ve met thousands of folks who have had little or no interaction with a trans person (I’m a an entertainer among other things), and that allows them to see us as just other people who are fun, interesting, etc.

I’ve seen many trans folks start off conversations with people they just met lecturing on pronouns or making other demands. If this is the very first thing folks see a trans person do, it’s going to be a turn off. Instead, establish a rapport or relationship first, or mention it briefly as part of the conversation. I know that trans folks don’t have it easy, and feel we need to demand rights. But I don’t believe starting with that is the way to go. Most people have good intentions, they just are likely to be unaware, or even bias based off what others have told them.

I’m lucky in that I have supportive friends and family, and I can fall back on the guy who is still inside me if I need him. So I know this is more difficult for others. And thus many trans folks have fought me on my views. But the more our community interacts with each other, and maybe even forms various support groups, NGO’s, etc we can better represent our collective needs, which we may find out has much overlap with non-trans folks.