Being who I am is not easy.  For all transgender people it is not easy.   Many of the issues, other than where to pee, are very important.  They include acceptance from family and friends, changing important documents, employment and medical coverage.

The big and most important issue is acceptance.  This will lead to fixing the other issues.  Although acceptance from society is vital,  if a transgender girl comes out to her family, their family’s acceptance can be a matter of life or death.  Many studies have shown that children the come out and are rejected by parents are more likely to take their lives.  We are loosing too many already.  I am lucky that my parents and siblings accept me.  I know too many that their family rejected them.  If she don’t commit suicide,  she will do what ever it takes to survive.  This includes sex work and/or drugs.  The latter more dangerous.  A parent is supposed to have unconditional love.  How can they reject their own blood?

Once she gets pass the acceptance issue,  she needs to have documents that show who we are.  Changing her name is the first step.  Picking her name is the easy part.  When she settles on a name she has to go to court to change the name legally.  This tasks ease depends on where she lives and what judge she gets. Some states do not allow her change  her name.  If she changes her name she can change her social security card.  This is an easy task.  Just take the court order to the Social Security office and the change it.  Next she needs the change her id.  The name is easy, but the gender is not.  In some states you cannot change it without a court order and that takes Gender Reassignment surgery (GRS or SRS).  More on the latter.  She will also need to change her birth certificate.  In a few state this cannot be done.  In the ones that do most require her to have GRS.  She may not want to change her body.  Most things that the Federal government , such as passport, are easy.  Depending on where she lives determines if she can be true to herself.

Then she has to go to work.  If she has a job.  Many employers will not hire a transgender person.  If she has a job, the employer may not have protections for her.  They can release her just because she is transgender.  Then it gets hard to find work.  If she finds a job it may not pay as much as her old job and less than her female cis-gender (non trans) co-workers.  Another problem is the bathroom issue.

Everyone needs to take care of their health.  For the transgender community this is a challenge to get good health care.  Many doctors are not trained in Trans-healthcare.  Many are rude and disrespectable to their trans patients or do not see them at all.  But she may not be able to see a doctor.  She cannot afford it.  Until the Affordable Care Act, or as some call it Obama care,  having her  medical procedures covered was impossible.  Now they have to cover our needs.   They all cover Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and therapy.  HRT is not always needed.  She may not want to change her body.

The biggest procedure that is now covered is GRS, but that may not help.  There are only a few surgeons that ate qualified to perform GRS.  Only a couple of them take insurance.  This might be because they may not get fully payment from the insurance company.  This is sad.  They are putting profits ahead of serving to community they treat.  So there are long wait times for surgery.  Up to around 2 years.  With  Obama care there are deductibles and yearly maximums.   This is where I am.

Some of the hurdles are higher than others and they are exhausting.  As there gets more acceptance and the hurdles will  be easier.