Why Do You Only Hear About Trans People Who Are In A Casket Or On TV?

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[news]

Why do most representations of transgender and gender-nonconforming lives and people in pop culture and the media tend to follow specific -- and narrow -- narratives?

A new video from HuffPost brings together a group of individuals across the spectrum of trans and gender-nonconforming identity to discuss this reality and the implications of these kinds of limited representations.

While it's impossible to fully represent the vast multitudes of identities and ways of being that the words "transgender" and "gender-nonconforming" encapsulate, one does have to wonder: why do you only really hear about trans people when they're in a casket or starring in a reality television program?

"Our storylines almost always revolve around the same narrative that doesn't fit everyone's unique experience," artist and activist Aaryn Lang shares in the video. "We're actually not all tapped in the wrong bodies and we actually don't all transition."

Trans representation in television also often includes sex work, and in a way that either makes the industry seem illegitimate or portrays the sex worker as a victim -- two things that are both incorrect.

"Show us as multidimensional, with diverse professions and not just as victims or punchlines or sex workers," social worker Kimmie Kadan explains. "And, if you do include sex work, don't show it as something shameful -- because it's not."

Check out the video yourself above.

Also on HuffPost:

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