Dear Mx. President, 11/08/2016

Slowly but surely our country is becoming more accepting of many types of people and though we are called the melting pot, we do not have nearly enough acceptances for diversities beyond outer appearance. We need more change, more acceptance for large section of the LGBTQA+ community that has yet to be fully acknowledged: The Gender non-conforming/trans community. So as you transition into presidency, you should place basic assessments of the topic in our education systems, and create legal arrangements to protect the people of the trans/non-binary community.

For many years, on nearly every continent, more than 2 genders have been recognized for centuries. For example, many Asian and Middle Eastern countries such as Japan, China, Turkey, Afghanistan ,and Pakistan all have ambiguous genders in their communities. And as of recent years places like the United Kingdom have acknowledged and accepted the idea of more than 2 genders. Yet, we as the so called “melting pot”, are still struggling to accept thing that have been around for centuries. How is that reflected on our American acceptance and diversity?

Us not accepting these individuals is taking away from their right to pursue happiness stated in the declaration of independence and is discrimination. According to studies done by the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS) “6,456 transgender and gender nonconforming people in the United States reported on their experiences of discrimination and abuse at work, at home, in school, and in the public sphere.” This is most likely due to the lack of education and representation on this subject and the amount of bigotry many generations have passed along. This is hurting innocent trans and gender non conforming adults as well as children who are just trying to be themselves. We need to introduce education of genders, other than male and female, and set up laws against this type of discrimination on a national level we can cut down we can create a safe environment for everyone in our community.

Opposed to popular belief there is evidence of the existence of genders other than man or woman. While your sex doesn't necessarily regulate your gender; your chromosomes and hormones like testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone do have an affect on what your may or may not identify as. These affect the way you mentally process and perceive things therefore affect the way you see yourself in the social construct of gender humans have created. For example, Intersex individuals account for around 1 in 1,500 births. In fact, some sources put the figure as high as 1.7%. Thats a lot of people who are born with a sex that doesn’t completely match the gender they are assigned based on sex. These people who are born chemically different cannot change they way they feel about who they are, and who is society to try and change them

Claims have been made reporting that your genitals define your gender when in fact they only define your sex. Shutting down the idea that sex and gender are different things, that while they can correlate, don't for everyone. Another opinion is that God makes “no mistakes” and “that it is a sin to go against the way god wanted it.” This a very outdated, religious opinion that isn't even back by the bible or other scriptures. And the seemingly favorited counter argument by many is that “we can't pander to every sexual preference.” This ludicrous argument makes no sense because isn't even a claim about anything related to sex or gender and sexuality is completely different from both of those.

To say the least a new president should really get informed on a issue like this; one that puts the validity and representation of people in jeopardy and cause many to feel insecure and experience things like gender dysphoria. As someone who has felt so much invalidation because of my experience as a trans person I cannot mellow down and just suggest you try to validate these individuals, you must educate about genders and pass more laws against discrimination to help validate individuals that identify as genders other than male or female and make our nation recognize their existence.

Yours truly, Syn Terrissa King