While scrolling through my Twitter feed recently, I noticed a pattern in the conversations happening around transgender people. A friend posts a glow-up photo. Someone else shares a funny story about the daily chaos of transition. Or maybe it is one of Brianna Wu’s many pleas to be noticed by the public. No matter what the content is, joyful, mundane, or political, what usually follows is the same: a swarm of insults.
They show up like clockwork. Tranny. Troon. Freak. You will never be a woman. You will never be a man. It does not matter if the post was about eyeliner, a promotion at work, or a cat knocking something off a shelf. The hate finds its way into the replies.
But here is the truth: these words do not carry the power the people typing them think they do. We have heard them before, from classmates, family members, and strangers on the street. And every time we hear them again, their weight diminishes.
So let us make this clear: your insults carry no weight.
This article is both a direct message to the ones who throw out hate and a reminder to the younger members of our community, those just stepping into themselves, that the noise is only noise. It does not define you.
The Power They Think They Have
Hateful people operate under a flawed assumption: that words alone can destroy us. They believe that repeating slurs or denying our existence is some kind of final blow. But for many of us, their insults land with all the force of a crumpled paper ball. Why? Because by the time we are grown, we have already spent years building resilience.
For transgender people, difference was never something that could be hidden for long. Whether it was mannerisms, voice, clothing, or simply a feeling that we were not playing the role assigned to us, the world noticed. And because the world noticed, it felt entitled to comment.
Some of us were teased in school hallways. Some of us were dismissed in our own homes. Others found themselves stared at or whispered about in public. By the time someone on the internet or a stranger in the street decides to use a slur, they are late to the game. We have already heard it, survived it, and kept moving.
That is the part bigots never understand: we built armor from their attempts to wound us.
Words Without Weight
Let us strip insults of the power they pretend to hold.
- Tranny or Troon. These are lazy slurs recycled endlessly online. To us, they sound less like an insult and more like a neon sign flashing “I have nothing original to say.”
- You will never be a real woman or man. Reality check: gender is not determined by your opinion; it is determined by who we are. If your entire argument boils down to denying someone’s existence, you have already lost.
- Freak. For centuries, people have used that word to describe anyone who breaks from the mold. Trans people are in good company: artists, scientists, musicians, and revolutionaries. If freak means refusing to be ordinary, we will take it.
- KYS and 41 percent. The ugliest of all online attacks, these are attempts to weaponize mental health struggles against us. Kill yourself, and references to suicide statistics are not witty comebacks; they are confessions of cruelty. They do not reflect who we are; they reflect the emptiness of those who say them. Every trans person alive and thriving is living proof that these words fail. We are not a statistic. We are not a suggestion. We are people, and we are still here.
Slurs are supposed to cut deep, but most of them bounce right off. They carry no creativity, no intelligence, and no weight. They reveal more about the speaker’s emptiness than about the target’s identity.
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Growing Up Different And Stronger
Here is what people who cling to hate never realize: many of us grew up carrying difference like a banner, even before we had the words for it. That experience created strength in ways most people cannot imagine.
- We learned to navigate hostile environments. From classrooms to workplaces, we figured out how to keep going even when we were not welcome.
- We became experts in self-knowledge. When you spend years defending who you are, you get crystal clear about your truth.
- We discovered community. In a world that mocked or excluded us, we built friendships and families of choice that run deeper than blood.
Insults did not make us weaker; they sharpened us. And when we finally stepped into our authentic selves, we realized that no insult, no matter how cruel, could undo the years of resilience we had already forged.
Why They Keep Trying
If insults do not work, why do people keep hurling them? The answer is simple: insecurity. Hate often comes from fear, and slurs are the blunt tools of people who cannot handle complexity.
A man insecure about his masculinity might try to undermine a trans woman because her courage to live authentically terrifies him. A woman clinging to rigid gender roles might lash out at a trans man because he exposes the limitations of her worldview. Politicians and pundits recycle slurs because they have nothing else to offer but outrage.
Hate is not power. Hate is panic. And insults are the last resort of those who feel their control slipping away.
The Younger Generation Needs to Hear This
To the younger transgender people reading this, those just beginning to come out, transition, or even quietly whisper their truth to themselves: this part is for you.
You will hear insults. Someone, somewhere, will throw a word at you meant to sting. But remember this: the insult says everything about them and nothing about you.
You are not defined by the names others call you. You are defined by your courage, your dreams, your kindness, and the love you carry for yourself and others. Every generation of transgender people has been called names. Every generation has survived. And every generation grows stronger.
You are the proof that their words failed.
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Reclaiming and Redefining
One of the most powerful tools marginalized communities have is reclamation. Think of words like “queer,” once hurled as an insult, now worn as a badge of pride. Trans communities have done the same with language, turning slurs into rallying cries, refusing to let haters dictate our vocabulary.
But reclamation is personal. Some people embrace certain words; others never want to hear them again. Both choices are valid. The key lesson is this: no one else decides how much a word matters to you.
When trans people laugh off a slur or ignore it entirely, we are refusing to give it the power it craves.
Insults Fade, Visibility Remains
The future does not belong to slurs. It belongs to us. Look around:
- Transgender actors, writers, and creators are shaping culture.
- Trans athletes are competing and succeeding despite the noise.
- Trans youth are refusing to shrink themselves, taking up space in classrooms, sports, and stages.
Every insult fades with time. But our visibility, our existence, and our joy only grow stronger.
A Direct Message to the Haters
So let us speak directly to those who keep repeating the same tired lines:
You are wasting your breath.
You can say “tranny” a hundred times, but it will not erase the woman standing before you. You can tell a trans man he is not real, but his life will continue regardless of your approval. You can hurl every slur in your vocabulary, even KYS or 41 percent, but trans kids will still grow up to thrive, love, and succeed.
Every insult is a confession, a confession that you fear what you do not understand, that you cling to cruelty instead of compassion, and that you mistake noise for power.
Meanwhile, we are still here. Living. Loving. Laughing. Building futures.
Inspiring Strength in Ourselves
For every trans person reading this, especially those still weathering storms, know that you come from a lineage of resilience. Our elders fought through times when simply existing was considered impossible. Today, we continue their legacy. Tomorrow, future generations will stand on our shoulders.
Here are truths to hold onto when insults fly:
- You are real. No word can erase your identity.
- You are strong. Every insult survived becomes another layer of resilience.
- You are not alone. There is a vast, diverse community walking beside you.
- You are loved. Maybe not by everyone, but by enough to matter, and by yourself most of all.
From Survival to Thriving
Insults may have shaped our resilience, but they do not get to shape our futures. Our lives are about more than survival; they are about thriving.
We build art, careers, families, and dreams that no slur can touch. We fall in love, laugh until our stomachs hurt, and dance even when the world tries to shame us. We take insults, strip them of their sting, and move forward with more joy than the haters will ever know.
And the greatest revenge? Living well.
The Bottom Line
The next time someone spits out an insult meant for a transgender person, remember this: their words are empty. Their cruelty is tiresome. Their hate carries no weight.
To the haters: you are background noise. To the younger generation: you are the melody of the future. To every transgender person alive today: you are proof that resilience is stronger than ridicule.
We have heard it all before. And we are still here. Still shining. Still living fully.
Their insults mean nothing. Our lives mean everything.
