Waj, there are a lot of wid wideranging opinions on this topic. There are boys who say they should have been born girls, and vice versa. Weve gone to our community who said, do a show on this, but some are not happy, like mally, seriously, were talking about tran transgender, have we solved all other problems . And if mainstream lgbt movements were less about party, pride floats, we would have more solutions. Recent violence against transgender women have put an uncomfortable spotlight towards the transcommunity. 700,000 transgender People Living in the u. S. Face discrimination. They are four times more likely to live in poverty. Many say they just arent seeing enough gains while the gay and Lesbian Community are making a hughuge strides. So is the t in lgbt overlook overlooked . We have our guests. Welcome all of you to the stream. Tyler, i want to start with you. Introduce transgender people to americans. So many people dont even understand what this word means. Well, thats a good question, and neither did i initially. Its generally described as somebody that is incongruent with the birth sex, the sex they were assigned at birth. I was assigned a female gender at birth, but that never worked for me. Nobody ever mistook me as female until i began transition and became a softer person and now im happier with myself. Im a transsexual. Gender variant, gender nonconforming. These words come up in the show, go ahead and define what they are. Transsexual is someone who has undergone sex reassignment surgery. Yes, yes, and sex reassignment are various types of surgeries. People think we go in an easy bake oven and come out immediately one sex. Its a process from hormones to several types of surgeries. I was gender nonconforming prior to this meaning that i did not fit in a box because my gender marker did not match my presentation, which my presentation was male, so people were confused about that. And then you have a whole variety of people that justand in this country in particular, we think that people fit in one box or another box, and its really not true. Were reflecting the diversity that is really there. Ruby, if you dont fit a box youre generally over looked. And when youre overlooked as a marginalized community its because people are fearful of you or misunderstand who you are. Talk about that as it relates to the Transgender Community. Well, i think first its harder when youre transitioning because people can see clearly that you were a little different. Society has this norm that females are supposed to be feminine, youre supposed to wear female clothing, and if you were born male youre supposed to act masculine and tough and wear male clothing in society. But when you go against that, against the rules, then thats when the issues start. Early on a lot of people do not go into transitioning part that tyler was speaking, so they pretty much cross dress. But you cant just keep doing that all your life, and you want to match your body to how youre mind feels. And that cross dressing draws a lot of ridicule. A lot of the time. But it makes you happy. Thats who you are. But then when you go through the transition its very difficult because many folks feel like they have a right to change, its your decision. Thats why i have encountered a lot of discrimination, and basically violence because people feel it is their right to tell me how to live my life, how i should portray myself even though in my heart i feel like i am who i am. But many people feel that thats not proper. Here is sophia, a member of our community who is also part of the Transgender Community. She writes and angel writes all right, im going to go to you. Here is a disturbing statistic, and unfortunately all the statistics are heartbreaking. 78 of those who expressed transgender identical in grades k through 12 reported being harassed. Talk to us how this begins at a school level. I want to touch on the bathroom thing. Please do. People talk about fears of transgender, people in bathrooms with them, and not only are there not any statistics to show that transgender people harassed gender people. But its the opposite, its the transgendered people who are harassed and questioned in bathroom. I wanted to put that out there because the bathroom issue comes up in schools especially. Tyler . I was going to say that ive been required to strip so many times its not even funny for police and harassed, just trying to go to the bathroom. There are a lot of disparities. There is discrimination. What area would you say is most acute. Health, education, workplace . I think its Workplace Discrimination because it ties in the other. Transgender people have the same access to the American Dream or should as everybody else, but these barriers keep us from it. And as you mentioned i think earlier we face double unemployment rates, and in the survey dongy the gay and Lesbian Task Force, 5,000 participants indicated even at work people face mistreatment, discrimination on the job and harassment, and these barriers need to be torn down because those then go out into other areas. And then most workers that are transgender only make 10,000 per year. Poverty is a big issue as well. Paul, youre working with the fbi to include gender identity on the hate crimes. Weve been quite successful with the fbi, and weve worked with them. Theyve been great partners in determining that they should be collecting data on gender identity when it comes to hate crimes. Because the Transgender Community are disproportionately victims of hate crime. When we come back what is happening in your community that is working for transgender people. There are strides being made, despite the challenges, and where. Well be back in two minutes. Im a translogger and activist, and im in the stream. The true cost of energy hits home. My yard is gone. Are we destroying our way of life . Contaminated water from the fracking activities come here they stick it to the core of the earth but this Cutting Edge Technology could be the answer the future of fracking is about the water protecting the planet, saving lives. How do you convince a Big Oil Company to use this . Techknow, only on Al Jazeera America a remarkable quest that sparked imaginations and created history over 700 years ago, marco polo left venice to points unknown and mysterious relive this epic odyssey people encountered, discoveries made. And now. Questions answered. Al Jazeera America presents marco polo a very modern journey after decades of inaction and indifference, you have every reason and right to push proudly and forcefully for equality. [applause] but three years ago i also promised you this, i said even though it took more time than we liked we would see progress, we would see success an we would see real and lasting change. Together thats what were witnessing. Thats president obama speaking at an lgbt pride month reception. He mentioned progress. Here is more. There is a transgender candidate running for congress in minnesota. The california bill allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice, and a call out, check this out, i got it on my computer, a call out for tran models. Is this what mainstream acceptance looks like . Well, really it does. Were about 20 years behind the lgbt movement, but thats what acceptance looks like. Were integrated fully in society, and hopefully we wont have to have these types of conversations. There is xander and cary writes paul, im going to have to go to you with that. People in this community are saying gays and lesbians have mainstreamed but at the expense of the Transgender Community. What is your response . I think there is no question that the progress has been made for the lgbt part of the community, but i wouldnt say that its at the expense of the community. I think were working very hard for everybody in this community. We certainly have more work to do when it comes to the transgender part of the Lgbt Community, and were going to keep doing it. I think were making great progress. Julie, do you feel that transgender people were overlooked in the Lgbt Community . Yes, definitely to a certain degree. A lot of it depends on the specific segments of the Lgbt Community. There are certain segments within the community that are accepting and aware of transpeople, but then there are large and small civics that are not. Whats the rub . Initially when we think of as the Gay Rights Movement started there were transpeople who were apart of it, but historically as part of the movement to move gay and lesbian people being seen as acceptable there were certain elements within the mainstream movement that pushed transgender people aside. Now were playing catch up, because that have history. And because transgender people have not always been as welcome in the gay and lesbian communities. There are a lot of people who are not aware of our existence, or dont know as much about us as say the majority. Ruby, what are some of the changes that youre seeing at the community level, local, state. There have been a lot of change since 1992. Being transgender, there were times i would only come out in the night and weekends. Today people can walk around the city being who they are. They will find challenges but its not going to be life or death. In our city we changed legislation to include in our human rights act the specific definition for strands gender and protection. And we talk about the bathroom. In 2006 we had a very defined ruling on that, and we have yet one incident where someone felt uncomfortable having a transperson in the bathroom. We have done amazing work, and i feel like we have a blueprint for the whole country. We have policies within the police department, we have policies with the jail. We have worked very closely with the health department. Were one of those few city there is got the dvm to do the gender changes without letter from a physician, and there is policies legislation to protect the rights of transgender people. There is more to do, and i think thats what were doing right now. There are challenges being addressed. There are many groups who have mixed views on transgender, and with the republicancontrolled house any progay legislation is dead on arrival. Tea party g. O. P. Is not about to help the Lgbt Community, thats according to ed. Tyler, going to you on this, who are your allies who are pushing forward on equal rights, and who are the groups most hostile towards inclusion . I think we have members on both sides of the aisle that have been pushing for lgbt inclusion. We cant really say its democrats or republicans. And weve had more with some republicans. Certainly we have, and with some democrats that come from conservative jurisdictions. One of the big pieces of recommendation we need to get through is because people assume were protected is the employment nondiscrimination act. There was a Senate Hearing we really need to get this legislation through, and under this president , i might add, because hes been one of the few that has agreed that he would sign it. Because again if you think that every hard working american should be allowed to have a job regardless of their gender identity, or who they choose to be intimate partners with, then we ask everybody to push the senate right now. Were hoping for a senate vote. We know its on the plate, but we can can ask congress to do more than one thing at a time. This is a human rights issue that has been taken up because we worry about people in other countries. But just as many people are being killed in this country. Ruby alluded to it a minute ago, and its gotten better, but its still not great. Still a vulnerable community. Paul, is legislation enough to address the societal bias against transgender people . No, absolutely not, but i could not agree more. We need to pass inclusive legislation, and its difficult to do with the antiequality leadership in the house. One that the hrc do is our Corporate Equality index that has changed the corporate america. We write on ceos in the country on their practices and Companies Really care about their score. Do you know at the top of your head what the top three are . The top three what . Temperatures that you rate . We have several companies. We have several companies that get a perfect score. Rattle a couple of them off. Everyone is curious what they are. Lets see here, let me just look. We have corporations that are supportive of enda. Some of the companies will surprise you. Alcoa out of new york, which is not one of youreverybody thinks finance and Tech Companies, google, of course, is great. Everybody thinks that finance and Tech Companies will do the best, and certainly they are, but some will surprise you, General Mills in minnesota, the cereal company. Someone told me that home depot is good. Yes, i dont have their score in front of me, but they are good and they have the threatened boycott of their lgbt employees, and it clearly didnt work. Here are some messages. I think its important to talk about companies that have good policies, because there are people who cant even get a job because of the transgender situation or other ways theyre being marginalized. They may be facing racism or classism and other issues that keep a lot of transpeople from even having a chance to be interviewed for a job, etc. I think thats an important thing to add to that. And as far as other types of movements that are helping, i think a lot of activism has always been oneonone, person to person. There is a saying that every out transgender person is an active. He is well pause there. There are people who are making strides forward. People are traveling the same rode as those with hiv and aids decades ago, seeking acceptance while being unfairly judged. Here are a few of the stories that were following right now. Were back talking about transgender people and general acceptance. What support does you your group need. If people could just accept the fact that everyone i has gender, we do, too. And the same way you respect someone elses gender, you should respect ours, and there are lots of different ways in which our identities are undermined in a daytoday basis, and sometimes it can go from seemingly small situations to really largescale situation like violence and everything. I think that the general understanding that our genders are legitimate, and were legitimate people that deserve to exist is a foundational idea that people should accept. This is harper jean. Were making incredible, rapid strides in acceptance of transgender people, and were also making strides in public policy. In many parts of the country getting i. D. That matches your gender identity is increasingly simple and not tied to medical procedures. Our biggest obstacle is that people dont understand that were their neighbors, their coworkers, their public servants, their loved ones, a part of their community. The more people understand that, the more well build momentum to secure our civil rights. In the mainstream there is a discussion by bradley manning, should he be addressed as Chelsea Manning. Harper gene is right on. Once people find out were their friends, neighbor and family it changes the landscape. Yet Chelsea Manning is being addressed inproperly regardless of the underlying situation, everybody has a right to have sanity and thats where courts come down on with protecting prisoners. You know, nobody is wanting to have prisoners to have more. Were not asking for more for her, but just basic human rights protections as anybody else, and thats where i think groups are supporting chelsea in that endeavor. Ruby, Chelsea Manning in the news right now. Do other celebrities come out like chaz bono, do they help the movement . I think they do. There is a website called trans100. Com, and you can see a list of people throughout the country who are reshaping what the lgbt movement is. There are lots of things being done in terms of the pioneers in terms of what we have done. I think its important that we support every individual out there that is creating change in america. I do think it is important that when we talk about employment, and we have, you know, organizations like hrc and the national gay and Lesbian Task Force trying to open doors for us that we address many important things. There are people who are not ready to go to work yet because they dont have the skills. When they were four, five, six years old they were not embraced by their parents, and when they were teens they had to drop out of school, so they dont have the skills to go to work for a company like ibm. We do need to talk about what is transformed what is being done. They end up going into the sex work industry and end up with criminal backgrounds when they work in that industry. In the mainstream, in the lgbt movement were a little bit more supportive. We have the only Transgender Organization in washington, d. C. Providing services. Were running out of time, so im going to put you on hold. Tyler, i want to give you the last word. We have 20 seconds left. Well, i think the most important thing is the employment nondiscrimination act. We need to show up and support that. We need people to educate themselves. Thanks to all of our guests. Thanks to our community for your insights and thank you for joining this show. Until next time waj and i will see you online. Fracking waste water the stream only on Al Jazeera America hello, and welcome to the news hour. Im Martine Dennis in doha. These are our top stories. A massacre in kenya, alshabab fighters an shoot dead 28 passengers. No. Iraq civilians are caught up in airstrikes targeting isil. We have the latest from baghdad. Russia accuses the west of trying t