• Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Op-Ed

The T Word: Life Through The Lens Of The Black Trans Woman

"We stand together as the Black community, except when it comes to the injustice being done to Black LGBTQIA+ folks."
The T Word: Life Through The Lens Of The Black Trans Woman
By Hope Giselle · Updated November 4, 2020

As a Black trans woman, I find myself playing third fiddle to a multitude of issues seen as more important than my own. As a Black woman who is trans, dark skinned, and full figured, I’m often silently asked to not make this a “trans issue” in Black spaces, and not make it a Black issue in White ones. I’m told that my story is beautiful and amazing, but I have seen first hand that it is only valued if it greases the hands of a wealthy White person or the floors of a ballroom as it’s being told.

I am allowed to feel, so long as it’s within the stereotype. I’m allowed to be an attractive man in a well-placed wig, but never a woman. I’m allowed to think outside the box, so long as my passing privilege matches my intellect. I’ve sat in spaces that were deemed safe only to be misgendered and have it laughed off because “everyone here is learning.” Most of these spaces were Black and for Black people, but my trans identity allowed room for the rules of respect to be bent in order to devalue my existence. Black cis folks shout in the streets for equality while passing dirty looks at Black trans and queer protesters who are also there demanding the same justice in exchange for the same peace. We stand together as the Black community, except when it comes to the injustice being done to Black LGBTQIA+ folks.

Yet trans women like Raquel Willis, Tonie Michele, and myself have stood at the forefront of many Black movements from Trayvon Martin to George Floyd, and still, we are seen as a distraction to the movement. Black trans women have been at the helm of ensuring the rights of our communities to no avail. With a life expectancy of age 35, trans women of color are the most at risk, yet somehow the least understood, funded, and supported subset of our little slice of the demographic. Saddest of all, many cis-gendered (people whose personal identity and gender correspond with their birth sex) Black folk still refuse to stand in solidarity with us for the betterment of the community as a whole.

Trans incidents leading to fatalities have increased over the last three years. According to The Human Rights Campaign, there were 22 murders of transgender people in 2015, 23 in 2016, 27 and in 2019. So far, this year, 15 trans people were murdered which included two trans men. Yet the amount of funding for programming around the issue is at the bottom of the list or tied into GBL (gay, bi, and lesbian) and Black Lives efforts in order to keep the peace. 

Things have got to change surrounding the idea that trans people, and our stories, are only valuable if we can be exploited and used to propel singular messages for the masses. Not all of us use sex work or crime as a means for survival. Not all of us engage in the ballroom community or act as “House mothers.” Some of us don’t live within the binary. A lot of us are college-educated. The narrative has to change and to change it we must call out problematic but normalized dismissals when we see them as a community, use our resources when we find ourselves inquiring about daily functions surrounding our sisters, and a respectful touch when we feel we have to engage her. Give the floor to trans men and women when we see a space is being dominated by only one lens as opposed to a full spectrum, and be mindful about tokenism within the community and understand that it’s ok to not understand, but never ok to use that lack of understanding as a means to be disrespectful. 

We all must check the privilege we have in the freedom we’re allowed to be ourselves. We must explore that while committing to governing ourselves by living in the action of inclusion and not just the phrase. We’ve got to continue to lead by which starts with making room within the community for everyone to be represented.

TOPICS:  Black Lives Matter Black trans lives matter black trans women pride month
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now