I was stunned when I visited a transgender support site that had reposted my article. Hundreds of trans people were leaving comments attacking transvestites, cross dressers, drag queens and other fringe members of the trans community simply because they don't want to be associated with them.

"What exactly does it mean to be transgender? Why do they want to change their sex? Why can't they just be gay or lesbian?" These are some of the questions I so ignorantly used to think about transgender people. But I am a firm believer that ignorance must always be replaced by education.

As a reporter, I hope that new media will grow to encompass transgender and gender-variant expressions as varied as my own. Awareness of trans issues is expanding, and we deserve expansive news sources, too.