Living in Today's World

Not too long ago a transgender person, for his or her own safety, had to conceal the situation from all but their most trusted friends and relatives. Today, in the early 21st century, this is, thankfully, far less true. Today's transgender people have those who have gone before to thank for throwing a bright light on what had been a dark corner of society. They were, unfortunately, unwilling pioneers. The "Tabloid Press", always hungry for sensational stories, stalked and hounded Christine Jorgensen, Renee Richards, Tula (Caroline Cossey) and others until every detail of their lives had been exposed. The unexpected, though welcome result was that a transgender person is now no longer "news". Gradually, we've been able to exit the closet to join, to an ever increasing degree, the rest of the world..

Transgender people are, though, still a mystery to many people. Your author transitioned over 20 years ago, but most of the people I know don't know that they know a transgender person. This anonymity can be a difficulty. People, especially agencies serving the public, must be educated.

"The time has come," writes Joan Roughgarden, an internationally recognized expert in biology from Stanford University, "to take a stand, to say that we, in all our shapes and sizes, in all our gender expression, sexual orientations and body parts, are healthy."

And so TYKs is working to inform the people of Kansas that transgender people deserve to be treated equally. To members of the following organizations, and to anyone else who thinks that transgender people of any age are "different", our message is simple...

We Need To Talk!

• The Kansas State Department of Education - Safe Schools Resource Center
• Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services
• Kansas Association of School Boards
• The Kansas Equality Coalition
• Kansas Counseling Association