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Anton Starke
Amy Trogan
Composition 1
2/16/15
Transgender and Bruce Jenner
Nicholas Kristof wrote an article on Bruce Jenner coming out as a transgender woman. In
his article he talks about a couple of key points on this subject. His article was written well. He is
a good source on this subject. He does not just use his own opinion on the subject but also uses
other peoples experiences. He explains the discrimination on transgenders, how Bruce Jenners
sex change can inspire other people, and gives a couple different surveys that were done on
transgender.
Nicholas Kristofs strongest point in his article is about the discrimination on
transgenders. He tells a true story about how a 21-year-old gay university student who was
beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead. That was in 1998 and was seen as an ultimate hate crime
against homosexuals. He goes on and says that in 2014 fourteen trangenders have been murdered
so far this year. They were shot, strangled, burned and beaten. Laws are being made to help
against the discriminations but the attitudes of the people need to change not just the laws.
Nicholas found a survey and 57% of the transgenders that took the showed that they get rejected
by their friends and family. 41% of them have tried to commit suicide. Nicholas Kristof explains
the discrimination extremely well with statistics and true stories. He also gives some ways for
theses discriminations to be fixed. He says that they can be fixed by changing peoples attitudes.
He makes the reader really feel bad for the discrimination on transgenders. This section of the

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article explains why Bruce Jenner has to have courage to come out as a transgender. He could
face rejection from his family and friends or could be beaten or killed.
One thing that made this article creditable is that even though he used a lot of opinions,
he did support other claims by using surveys, articles, and some researcher papers done at
universities. In one survey that was taken in 2011 by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,
they gave more insight on the rejection of transgenderism within a family. 57 percent of
transgender men and women have been rejected from families. With this oppression 41 percent
of transgendered men and women have attempted suicide. In one suicide not found a girl put
please fix society. She meant that even with laws protecting gays but society has to except them
first. In another survey done by the University of California they found that out of the 3.5 percent
of gays only 0.3 percent are transgender. These surreys help Nicholas Kristof support his claim
on what it means for Bruce Jenner to have courage.
Nicholas Kristof first starts talking about when he was a kid and how he looked up to
Bruce Jenner for being a runner in the Olympic, then goes on to say how much respect he had for
him back then. After that he explains that now Bruce Jenner is again earning his respect not for
running, but for coming out as a transgendered women. Many people including his friends and
family are supporting his choice. Bruce Jenner is helping a lot of people by having a sex change.
He will be a good role model for men and women who want to have a sex change for many years
to come. If a man that is famous can have a sex change and be widely supported that might show
others who are struggling that it is alright for them too. Nicholas Kristof might have had more
outstanding numbers if he included in his research, an interview or two of transgendered men or
women and their feelings on Bruce coming out as transgender. With those interviews it would

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have shown how more people are really responding to Bruces sex change and the impact it has
on that community of people.

It can be agreed that this is not an easy subject to talk about. Everyone seems to have
their own opinion about the choices transgendered men and women make. Some agree and look
upon them as a type of modern day hero, and others look at it as offensive or immoral. The big
issue here is that most people seem to forget that despite their opinions, its the man or womans
decision to undergo the surgeries choice. Its not something that they just wake up one day and
decide, its a ginormous decision that takes time, energy and perseverance. If anything can be
taken from the countless interviews, hundreds of surveys, and dozens of TV shows, its that the
choice to become transgendered isnt an easy one, but its the right one for them. Whether youre
a man trapped in a womans body or a woman trapped in a mans its the people like Bruce
Jenner who followed their gut and werent afraid of the judgment or rejection of thousands, that
give hope to thousands of individual everywhere. According to The Williams Institute School of
Law, There are 700,000 transgendered men and women in the United States alone. This is what
Nicholas Kristof is trying to portray in his article, that to have a sex change you must be mentally
and physically prepared for whatever under ways.

As a final thought, its all thanks to the people who enlighten us on such a delicate subject
such as Nicholas Kristof, or the Williams Institute School of Law, or the people who had the
courage to have followed their heart like Bruce Jenner, transgenderism isnt as unheard of as it
used to be. Everyday more and more people are learning about it and hearing the struggle these

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men and women go through on the daily. Nicholas Kristofs article is a good piece on
transgenders and also on what it means to become a transgender in America. The title of the
aricle is called Bruce Jenners courage which is a good title for this article because of all the
different ways transgenders are targeted.

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Work cited
Institute, Williams. "How Many People Are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender?"
Williams Institute. N.p., 01 Apr. 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.