“The way you’re looking at the dance floor like it’s a foreign country,” Ruth said, ordering a whiskey neat. “Happens to all of us at first. You think, ‘I’m finally here, so why do I still feel like a ghost?’”

Transgender people and those with diverse sexual orientations (lesbian, gay, bisexual) are united by a shared history of challenging traditional societal norms regarding gender and attraction.

The relationship between the transgender community and LGBTQ+ culture is symbiotic and essential. Trans individuals provide the movement with its most radical challenges to systemic norms, while the broader queer community offers a platform for collective power. To look at the trans community is to look at the heart of the LGBTQ+ mission: the right for every individual to live authentically, regardless of the expectations assigned to them at birth. , or perhaps explore modern legislative challenges facing the community?

Trans people face higher rates of workplace discrimination and housing instability compared to cisgender gay and lesbian individuals.