% Bullying

Bulling can take many forms, e.g. physical/verbal abuse, being berated
or undermined repeatedly by colleagues at school or in the workplace,
denied jobs or promotions, scapegoating and so on. Transgender people
are 5x more likely to commit suicide than almost any other group of
people, and bullying can play a large part in that.

In some countries, bullying can also take place in the *gender clinic*
where the trans person is the victim of a *gatekeeper* that tries to
hold them back from transitioning, or tries to convince them that
they're not trans. E.g. being forced to live for 1-2 years or more
without HRT after coming out, which on its own can cause many problems,
especially if the individual doesn't pass (for many trans people,
hormone therapy is the only way to start passing).

In some cases, it's family doing the bullying. E.g. rejecting their
child, or not allowing them to transition, after they come out. Putting
them in an institute, even, or kicking them out (extreme cases). On the
other end of the scale, a parent who comes out can be bullied too; e.g.
kicked out and divorced (if married) by their partner, and denied the
opportunity to see their children.

Bullying is any kind of abuse (intentional or otherwise) that attacks
you physically or mentally.

We don't have much info here yet, but Transpire has this helpful guide:
[Help! I think I'm being
bullied\...](http://transpiresouthend.org/help-i-think-im-being-bullied)

LGBT Youth Scotland also has this website, which aims to tackle and
reduce bullying of trans people in society:
[respectme.org.uk](http://respectme.org.uk/)

Some bullying is illegal!
-------------------------

Repeated harassment/intimidation (e.g. being laughed at in the street,
or being made to feel unsafe, being threatened, stalking, etc). Theft.
Physical or sexual assault. Hate crimes / hate speech.

These things are illegal in the UK, and many other countries. If you are
a victim of it, report it to the police immediately.

You should *especially* report it to the police if you think doing so
will *make it worse*. The police are there to put people in prison, so
that they can't bother you anymore. That is literally their job. They
are there to improve your quality of life. **Take this paragraph with a
pinch of salt. This is mostly true in the UK, but it is not true in all
countries. In some countries, it's the police doing the bullying.**

Why do bullies bully?
---------------------

Ignorance. Fear. Bullies are cowards who try to destroy people who are
stronger than they are. E.g. more successful than them, more intelligent
than them, more beautiful than them, more social than them, etc. Too
much different from them. Etc.

There is no justification for bullying!

It \*does\* get better
----------------------

Suicide is not the answer. Ever.

The negative feelings that you're feeling now will not be part of you
forever. If you die, your problems will only be so much worse, because
then you will be dead.

You are a beautiful, important person. You are not worthless.

[You are awesome](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj5gvE4Ft3w)

Assemble. Unite.
----------------

Bullies rarely attack groups, only individuals. If you're in school,
start a support group within your school. Get teachers involved, get
parents involved. *A support group might already exist at your school.*

The same applies to adults, only in your town and area. If your
workplace is large enough, you could consider forming or finding a
support group within your organisation.

External links
--------------

[Stonewall](http://www.stonewall.org.uk/help-advice/whats-my-area) can
help you with feelings of isolation and loneliness, especially for
finding support groups in your local area. (NOTE: UK specific. We need
to add similar links for other countries)

[Guardian article about transgender
suicide](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/19/young-transgender-suicide-attempts-survey)

[Interview with Caroline Cossey and Gina Denham - trans women talking
about bullying and coming
out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqVfUG7ql9c)

