Our past imposes on every moment of every day (especially for peoples of color). Our nation began with raping and murdering indigenous peoples and to this day continue to marginalize, oppress, and cast them as 'others'. US shipped Africans from their homeland to a place where they would be beaten, raped, and used like objects for white man's comfort - these peoples' struggle continues just as our indigenous population. Internment camps for Japanese, railroad work for Chinese. If you aren't white, you aren't right. Painful and repulsive is our history. This is America, land of the free and home of the brave.
I'm constantly told by those around me that I am safer, privileged, and enjoy more rights than any other women on the planet simply because I'm American. Tell that to these teenagers fighting for their right to dignity and privacy; they may not experience what I have as a woman in the US but they are facing a new brand of oppression.
Because we are 'the best' 1 out of 50 children are homeless, as of 2012 upwards of 57,000 veterans are homeless. 18.5 MILLION people live in extreme poverty in the US. We have mass capitalized incarceration (disproportionately affecting people of color). 1 in 3 women will be sexually assaulted here, 1 in 6 men well experience same. 1 in 5 women will be raped and 1 in 71 men. 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused. I could fill volumes with examples of treachery disguised in pride.
Our nation is focused on immigration law/building a wall, Trump everything, tariffs, special investigations, and college scams.
The TRA agenda and successes are not known or not considered to be an important issue (outside of academia and the movement). Our Representatives sign off on things that they can't or won't try to understand implications of because it's all about being famous and looking great. Unfortunately our environment is ripe for sex-based rights erosion because most of our citizens are focused on the economy and immigration. While the blind lead the blind in TRA legislation, our citizens focus on attacking each other about Trump, the economy, and immigration.
No one I have spoken to (a great number) is aware of what's going on around our nation (RE: TRA) until I fill them in and send them articles to read (from varied domestic and foreign sources). All of the people that have seen something here and there about TRA assume that these are all fully transitioned individuals. From my experience many Americans feign empathy because it makes them feel good about themselves and presents a pretty picture to those who will look. I don't think these people get the implications of turning a blind eye while assuming that none of this new legislation will affect them.
I'm not a fear monger, I'm not a hater. I believe we all (all people protected classes/castes or not) have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - but the most important part about those rights is that those rights end where another person's rights begin.