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Trans History

Trans History is hard to relate because for much of history, succeeding at being a trans person meant that no one would ever know you're trans. Even for people who were visibly trans, like David Kottler, probably the first out Trans cartoonist, who's work detailing his transition experience appeared in Gay Comix 3 in 1982 before he seemingly vanished off the face of the earth. To be trans often meant the constant threat of violence, battling with medical professionals for gender affirming care, and general isolation. In the early days of the trans movement, Trans women were often seen as failed gay men and rejected not only by straight society but also gay society. Transition was virtually impossible without early childhood intervention as most doctors aimed to "cure" the transness instead of treating the gender dysphoria. Often times Trans people lived on the street and essentially the only jobs available to them were in sex work. An unknowable number of trans and nonbinary people chose to use easier gay or lesbian labels because they were available to them and even with the discrimination Gay and Lesbian People suffered, it was better than being trans.
In the nineties things started to get a little easier for trans people. They were still deeply persecuted and misunderstood but they were visible and across the world one or two specialty clinics began to pop up that offered hope for trans people. With the dawn of the internet however, things really took off as trans people, who were previously a highly isolated minority began to find information about what it meant to be trans, options for medical transition, and most importantly, other trans people. For the first time trans people had hope.
In the early 2010's due to the emergence of some high profile trans activists Trans visibility spiked in the mainstream. This lead to a colossal improvement for the standards of trans care and access to trans care for more people which lead to an increase in trans people. This also lead to a massive increase in discrimination, as has been the case with increased visibility across queer history.
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-Over the years transphobes have developed arguments and talking points to harass trans people that have been broken down and disproved over the years from arguments about trans access to bathrooms, to arguments about trans people corrupting children. Ultimately trans people just want to live their lives as themselves in peace, and given the arc of queer history towards acceptance one can only hope that day comes soon.

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