People who have not been exposed to information on gender identity often hear the term “trans” and picture a man in drag or a woman with short hair, both of which are incorrect images. A transgender person doesn’t have a certain image, a man who cross-dresses is still a man, and a woman with short hair is no less a woman than any woman with long hair. Not only can society’s image of what a transgender person be incorrect, but it’s vastly limited*. Society needs to embrace people for who they are, not for what gender they assume the person to be. We need to stop assuming who people are based off of how they look and accept that there is more to identity than just the black and white views we’ve been taught since birth. We need to increase awareness nationwide, and whether that be through education or the media portraying more than just a single story does not matter. It just needs to get done. If not for making everyone in society feel more comfortable, but to save lives. Trans* individuals have such an incredibly high suicide rate it is frightening.

Gavin Grimm, a trans* teen, was denied access to the men’s restroom at his school, spurring him to bring his issues to the courts. As the case rose through the different levels of court it was announced that the Supreme Court would hear his case this March. Yet the Court then announced that it would wait for the lower courts to work on the case more, supposedly due to the current climate in the White House. No one is saying that people of the opposite gender should go into a restroom. What we need is for people who identify as women to be allowed into the women’s rooms, those who identify as men to be allowed into men’s, and gender inclusive restrooms for those who identify as neither.

As soon as we are born we are labeled as a boy or a girl. Dressed in blue or pink. Those who receive childhoods free of gender expectations are rare, which later on in life can often hinder one’s perspective towards those who identify with a gender they weren’t assigned at birth. There are so many genders out there other than male and female, such as genderfluid (a gender in which is essentially multiple, as one may feel like a different gender at different times), non-binary (identifying outside of the binary, simply just not a girl or boy), and agender (identifying with no gender). Let me repeat, gender is not a solid binary thing. People may identify in millions of ways. Each of these is a valid identification that often receives dismissal when mentioned in public. Yet, according to the Trevor Project, only around 150,000 Americans are transgender, leaving many other people at a loss as to what being trans* really is.

As someone who identifies as nonbinary I’ve not only witnessed painful behaviour, but I’ve also had it directed at me. Yes, even here, at The School That Leads, people aren’t as accepting as we would like to portray them. Not that long ago I was thrown into the situation that inspired this article. A student openly laughed at another student mentioning being genderfluid. My insides churned, wondering what other hurtful, if not downright cruel, actions I had been protected from in my strange semi-closeted state.

Despite the pain I have witnessed from cisgender people (those who identify with the gender they are assigned at birth) I have never felt the need to bend to other people’s ideas that my gender isn’t valid. I know who I am. I am not a boy, nor am I a girl. I use they/them pronouns and a smile dances onto my face every single time someone uses my preferred name or some variation of it. I do not want society to pay attention to me to the point where I’m raised up on a special pedestal, I need society to let me comfortably be myself.

Grimm is making huge leaps by pushing the issue of not being allowed in the bathroom he feels most comfortable in, but this is not just about bathrooms. Yes, everyone will feel more comfortable when bathroom rights are protected and gender inclusive restrooms become more prevalent, but that is not the only problem. The problem lies within society’s mindset that prevents things like gender-inclusive restrooms and people using whichever restroom they feel most comfortable in from happening.

School isn’t the only place transgender people face ridicule or downright harassment. Online, people can get dubbed as “special snowflakes” for their gender identification, as if they just want to be different from everyone else. They may face strange looks when using a public restroom that does not correlate with their birth gender. Now, we face torment by our own country.

With an altered census and “bathroom bills” seemingly being thrown everywhere, transgender citizens are being viewed as corrupted less-than-people by larger and larger numbers of politicians….and fellow citizens. Apparently the right to not be discriminated against on the basis of gender doesn’t apply to us, for reasons we can’t figure out.

Society impacts us far more than we are accused of impacting it. We are asking for equal rights and to be treated like human beings. We are asking for families to be supportive and respectful so we will have one less factor contributing to the incredibly high suicide attempt rates. We are not asking you to be transgender also. We are not asking to be constantly thought of, we are asking to be considered citizens, at least enough to have our identities in the census.

Being nonbinary isn’t a silly attempt at gaining attention. I don’t spend my days correcting people on my preferred pronouns; I let people use she/her pronouns and my birth name without throwing a fit. What matters about being nonbinary is that I understand who I am. That the people close to me understand. That I can use my experiences and feelings to raise awareness about what society is doing to transgendered people.

You are valid, no matter how you identify.

We are valid.