Transgender People -- a Study in Courage
Re “Transgender People Are Finding It’s Tougher to Change a Name,” Aug. 28: Transgender people face other barriers daily. Our community is not fully protected from workplace discrimination. Transgender people face bigotry on a daily basis from some in both the gay and straight worlds and are still targets of violence and murder because of who they are.
Yet despite the obstacles fearful people throw in front of us, transgender men and woman build your military hardware, design electronic devices, own construction companies, fix your passenger planes, protect your streets and property and fight your forest fires. They treat your diseases, finance businesses, write your books and make your movies.
Our accomplishments are inspiring in spite of the obstacles we face. For a lesson in the triumph of the human spirit, one need only look at a transgender person.
Veronica Zerrer
Co-Chair, Orange County
Transgender Coalition
Orange
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As a weekend cross-dresser, when I’m asked for identification and my name appears as Robert, I just smile. I look like a girl with a guy’s name. Since my picture matches my face, I’m accepted as the person depicted. In other words, instead of changing my legal name to match my feminine face, I’ve merely changed my photograph on my driver’s license and kept my legal name.
Robert Y. Nakagawa
Los Angeles