God **** it. Why are we presented in such a negative light?

[Fab Karen]

My Aunt, Uncle, and I were watching a program called "JAIL". One of the impending inmates was a crossdresser. In the 5 minutes he was on, the audience finds out that this person was 6 foot 3, but was 6 foot 5 in his stolen high heels. Not only that, but he was wearing a stolen Vidal Sassoon jacket, too.
That's two strikes.
Then you find out he was arrested for stripping in public (On a bus full of kids and adults). This not only makes all crossdressers look like perverts, but it puts us in a negative light in the eyes of the public.

America isn't seeing Jennifer, the 5 foot 7 crossdresser who enjoys being feminine, while having a clean criminal record and is a stand-up person in general.
No. That would be too much to ask of Hollywood.
Instead, America sees ________, the outlandish, overly-effeminate, couldn't blend in to a crowd if they had assistance from a cuisinart food processor, Kleptomaniac Perverted Crossdresser that enjoys public acts of lewd and lascivious behavior!

Is it so much to ask that we be portrayed in an honest light?
Is it too much to ask that a crossdresser not be shown on television ONLY when it's in an unflattering light?

That show is ( was? don't know if it's been continued ) slanted to show all the scummy people taken to jail- the subtext is: BE AFRAID, stay home & watch tv. It's a step below Jerry Springer.

[Samantha43]

It is what it is. I doubt things will change anytime soon. Unfortunately there are crossdressers that are scumbags who give the rest of us a bad reputation. Our population is too small to change peoples views. That's why I stay in my cozy closet and enjoy my life.

[sometimes_miss]

As far as the news media, well they are a business and print whatever will get interest. Normal unassuming folks aren't what they want. Just like you won't see any normal people with no particular issues to address show up on Jerry Springer. As far as who we can tell, the woman I was most likely to bring it up with came out with a derogitory comment about one of our other male co-workers, saying he's so mild mannered that his wife probably wears the pants in the family or maybe he wears the panties. And of course, said it in such a negative way, I would NEVER ever consider saying anything, and it of course also ups my awareness of mentioning anything that could be considered feminine in any way at work. Does that make my place of work a hostile environment? Well, I guess so. The world simply isn't a friendly place for anyone who crosses gender lines.

[JenniferR771]

We should all pretend we have a friend named Steve, who is a crossdresser arnd a really good guy. If I don't want to come out myself, at least I can educate my friends.

[Jocelyn Quivers]

Maybe we can get the government to institute a licensing program for crossdressers where you have to go through an extensive background check before you get a crossdressing license. That should prevent bad people from getting skirts and dresses the way it now prevents bad people from getting guns.

Too funny, I could go along with that, and I even thought of listing some multiple choice questions until I realized thats a road I really should not go down.

[WifeofWrenchette]

There are a lot of CDs in the world so it figures that there's going to be some lowlifes: thieves, murderers, rapists, child molesters, politicians, bankers and every other conceivable kind of scum you can think of.

Exactly. just like every Catholic Priest is not a child molester. It's just been brought up a lot in the media/TV about them so some people "assume" that all priests are child molesters when they aren't.

[IMkrystal]

[SIZE="5"]

New Flash!! Regular nice guy likes to wear women's clothes and act normally". Photos at 11........ Being normal doesn't sell Sham Wows!!

Right ON!!!! We will continue to be abused as long as we remain SILENT!!![/SIZE]

[Kaitlyn26]

But it becomes a problem when those lowlifes become the representation of our community.
We already have to go through a lot, so why are we forced to be associated with the dregs of society?
It just doesn't seem right is all.

Most things on tv in general are portrayed poorly or in a bad light. The others that get bashed in the same way that we do do not suffer as badly because they're not invisible.

Most cross dressers are either good at passing or closeted and are invisible to society. So when we're shown on tv in a bad light it hurts us more so than when another minority gets bashed. We're not heard and seen everyday so that we can clear our name. So really it's our fault.

[Giselle(Oshawa)]

the social negatives of crossdressing have cost me my 27 year marriage which was otherwise very strong, these Jerry Springer type show's help break up a lot of
otherwise happy homes with their unfair and over the top profiles of transgendered people who don't at all resemble the lovely people i have met on my journey.

[t-girlxsophie]

Spreading shit about our community and the people involved in it SELLS,so I don't expect it to change any time soon sadly

Sophie