Not sure I'm posting this in the right part of the forum but I'm sure a Mod will move it if need be.
I recently was on a cruise on a family friendly cruise line. While on board my wife and I were seated for dinner with a lovely lesbian couple. They are older (as are my wife and I) and live in NYC. We had a wonderful open discussion with them and found that they were both active in the gay rights movement going back to the 60's. Some very interesting stories about the repression back then and how far they have come, as well as how far they still have to go.
Anyway, part of the lesson learned is that visibility is so important to the community being accepted. Once the "general public" meets a LGBTQ person and finds out that they are pretty much just regular people with the same goals as them then acceptance quickly follows. That was the genesis of the Gay Rights parades back then and Pride Month now. It struck me that we (the CD/TG/TS) community are at the start of a similar journey towards acceptance.
I know its hard, but being visible not just to others in similar positions, but also the public in general, will go a long way towards gaining acceptance in society.