Trans Community Can Change Minds By Changing Discourse

Could The Trans Community Change Minds By Changing Discourse?
MIAMI, FL - JULY 02: A protester holds an American flag and rainbow flag in front of the Miami-Dade Courthouse to show his support of the LGBTQ couples inside the courthouse were asking the state of Florida to recognize their marriage on July 2, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Six couples that identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) are in court asking that their same-sex marriage be recognized in the state of Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - JULY 02: A protester holds an American flag and rainbow flag in front of the Miami-Dade Courthouse to show his support of the LGBTQ couples inside the courthouse were asking the state of Florida to recognize their marriage on July 2, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Six couples that identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) are in court asking that their same-sex marriage be recognized in the state of Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

At a literary soiree in Paris, James Thurber was once told how much funnier his stories were in French. "Yes," he replied sadly. "My works lose something in the original."

I thought about this line when Laverne Cox, of the Netflix show "Orange Is the New Black," was nominated for an Emmy, the first transgender person to achieve this honor in the acting category. This was just the latest success in what seems to be the Year of the Trans, a season of great progress in the movement for transgender equality. And yet commentators, both liberal and conservative, continue to struggle with the right words to describe the transgender experience.

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