Thanks, Chaz! Hopefully your thoughtful and heartfelt explanation of your self-realization and your bravery in sharing your journey will go a long way towards helping America as whole understand and accept the glorious spectrum of individuals who make up and define our country as place for individuals who work together for a greater unity and a dream of better world.

ENDA has passed the House, and if passes the Senate, President Obama will sign it into law, helping trans people achieve a degree of economic parity; in 38 states it is legal to fire someone for being transgender; ENDA would make that illegal.

Workplace equality is just one of the many societal struggles faced by members of the transcommunity. Data from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey of 6,500 transgender people in all 50 states, cited in the Seattle PI

Preliminary data from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey of 6,500 transgender people in all 50 states indicate that transgender people experience unemployment at double the rate of the general population.

Even if employed, trans people face a huge hurdle with regard to health insurance. Most insurance plans do not cover the costs associated with gender transition, an the Seattle PI reports that

The Transgender Law Center has even found examples where insurance companies have denied coverage for a broken arm and flu treatment to transgender individuals, claiming the treatment was related to transition.

It remains to be seen if the Senate will pass the halth care reform bill which addresses this inequality.

Most horrifyingly: A trans person has a 1 in 12 chance of being murdered while heterosexual people have a 1 in 18,000 chance of becoming a homicide victim, according to the Human Rights Council.