What is it that makes you hate? As children, we don’t hate, we are curious and inquisitive, we want to understand and ask questions. But we don’t generally hate. Hate is something that you learn as you grown older.
“We are just people, with hopes, dreams and ambitions just like everyone else”. Emma Cusdin, Director, Global Butterflies
Hate comes from a place of fear, fear of the unknown or something that is different. And that fear manifests itself into intolerance and misconceptions. Creating a fabricated image of a single person, an ethic group, people with disabilities or someone’s sexual preference or their gender.
The Poopology crew were lucky enough to be able to sit down with Rachel Reese and Emma Cusdin, from Global Butterflies who in an honest and open conversation put to rest some of this misconceptions about Transgender people. They where generous not only with their time, but with their knowledge.
"Beware of your inner bigot and make friends with your enemies" - Kate Stone, Physicist, from Ted Talk "The press trampled on my privacy; here's how I took it back"
Three shocking facts
As people we all face struggles and challenges in our lives, and it can be easy to assume other peoples struggles are similar to yours, but that's not always the case. We had the chance to gain an insight into the struggles Transgender's people face on an almost daily basis;
A third of trans people (34 per cent) have been discriminated against because of their gender identity when visiting a café, restaurant, bar or nightclub in the last year.
More than two in five trans people (44 per cent) avoid certain streets because they don’t feel safe there as an LGBT person.
Almost half (48 per cent) of trans people don’t feel comfortable using public toilets through fear of discrimination or harassment.
Meeting Rachel and Emma was an enlightening experience, they are insightful, passionate, extremely knowledgable, full of humour and empathy for their fellow human beings. To hear the podcast in full listen on iTunes or Spotify.
During our research and discovery into Transgender, we came across a powerful poem by Lee Mokobe, who amazingly sums up what it feels like to be transgender, in just four minutes.