(Please don't talk in detail about anti-trans legislation, this isn't the forum for it, and details of it aren't really on topic in this thread.)
I just had a person leave my support group because they felt that as a non-hormone, non-op, non-fulltime, trans person, maybe even as "just a CD", that THEY are part of the reason some of these current tactics are being employed against all trans people. They felt guilty that they could avoid sanction by a mere change of clothing. Although laws haven't been passed here, we are all expecting a big fight over this next year. They felt responsible, they felt awful, and they seem to be abandoning their gender expression and involvement in the community. Prior to this, they were extremely active and appeared in public with great frequency.
I just want to tell all of you who might feel the same way, and for whom the characterization some of these VILE people put out about "men in a dress" might hit really close to home, that this isn't your fault. It isn't. Sure, you aren't fulltime. Maybe you never ever ever intend to take a single hormone. It's still not your fault, and your right to gender expression, and your unique gender identity are no less valid than mine. You have a right to present as you do, en femme, in public. You have a right to be safe using public restrooms, and for many, that means using the women's restroom while en femme. You are not now, nor have you ever been, the awful things they call us. (And neither am I!)
For what it's worth, neither I, nor many others of us in the trans activist community, will ignore your rights in favor of our own. We will fight, and we are not going to settle for some "compromise" that only helps those of us who are in an intensely medical type of transition. At least I'm not settling for that. And I can tell you, I will call onto the carpet with the most venomous words I have, any trans person who tries to police your identities. Because in my opinion, we are all in this together. Nobody gets left behind.
I'd encourage people here who are troubled now, or who may become troubled in the coming months as these events unfold, to seek counseling and support, even if it has to be done in secret. Having you closeted, isolate, terrified, and alone is what they want.
My question, for people on the forum, is how do you feel about the current spate of anti-trans (and anti-LGBT) action happening in various places around the US now? Have recent events started to affect your feelings about your dressing, or about going out in public, or maybe even made coming out seem like maybe not such a good idea at the moment? Again, please don't comment on the specifics in any place - this is about how you are feeling about the effects, whatever they may be, current events are having on you as a CD, TS, or other gender expansive person, and how you feel about them.