Keep in mind that just because someone makes a joke or laughs, it doesn't necessarily mean they are a hater.Originally Posted by StefaniLara
It's common for people to laugh or make jokes when the only thing they understand about it is what they've loosely seen in the media all these years, which is likely drag queens at gay pride parades in their outlandish getups. I've been privy to conversations too when I've heard people make jokes but the jokes were about "concepts" and not about specific people. Take any one of the people who make jokes, and tell them that their brother or best friend is transgender and you'll get quite a different reaction. When it reaches close to home then it stops being this nebulous thing. When a person hears that a best friend is transgender, even if they still do not understand they now have human qualities to attach to the label - all the things they know their best friend to be - and it stops being so funny. They won't start hating their best friend just because he is TG.
(Generally speaking, of course, unless a person lives in an ultra-conservative part of the country and/or is particularly religious and believes the behavior to be sinful, but even then, believing that a behavior is sinful does not automatically translate to hating the person who engages in the behavior).
You live in Texas, and parts of Texas are rather conservative, so maybe more people make jokes there. But if you go to NYC or SF, you'll run into different attitudes.
