Dealing with discrimination is unfortunately a daily ritual for most Trans* people. Along the more public aggressions Trans* people face, often based on their appearance or some other person's views on 'normality', are more subtle forms of bias often not heard, if talked about at all. These micro aggressions occur in situations that many people take for granted, such as when applying for housing or a job.

Micro aggressions also happen when attempting to shop for clothes or in many cases just use the bathroom. 

What makes these aggressions 'micro'? 

In many ways micro aggressions are subtle forms of bias or discrimination that are directed at someone, implicitly. By this I mean, a person may reject someone, insult them or refuse service by more passive means, such as suggesting that they are not welcome or insinuating that something, like an apartment, is not available. The person on the receiving end of these micro aggressions usually notices either a shift in the behavior of the offending person or passive language that suggests they are being refused service without a solid reason. Since open forms of discrimination are against the law in a lot of places, bias can show its ugly ways by instead making someone feel either uncomfortable or by implying that their kind is not wanted.

Many Trans* people experience micro aggressions as well as the more open forms of discrimination gay, lesbian and bi people face.

These forms of narrow-mindedness are not always experienced in person. The Web and digital spaces are ripe with inequality.

One prominent example is content filters. It is typical that much of the online information that Trans* search for, like safer sex practices, breast feeding, hormone advice, or other information that is intimate and personal is blocked behind content firewalls. Particularly at public internet sites (libraries, internet cafes, schools, etc.), site that provide this much need information are blocked as 'explicit', preventing access to content. 

According to the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, as reported by Wired, Trans* people are twice as likely to be unemployed and twice as likely to be homeless as the wider population. Because of these troubling statistics, Trans* people are less likely to have access to their own wi-fi in the search for information, and rely more heavily on public internet access which blocks needed content. Here's how you can help:

Collaborate via Open Source

Digital activists and developers are taking steps to help 'open' access to the Web for Trans* people. For instance, Lauren Voswinkel's Transgress is a site that bypasses web filters. Simply enter a url Transgress redirects you to the site you'd like to view. The project is still in development, but the code is available on GitHub in hopes that volunteers can lend a hand in design and functionality.

Help Increase Visibility of Trans* People in Tech

Trans*H4CK is a tech event conceived in response to the growing social and economic barriers that plague the Trans* community. The event, described as a 'roving hackathon' was founded by Trans* activist Dr. Kortney Ziegler to help develop open source tech products that benefit the Trans* and gender non conforming communities. Transgress is one of the projects that emerged out of the event.

Participate in Trans* Q&A

Another Trans*H4CK brain child is Gender Overflow, a members-only (i.e. just sign up) digital community. At GO you can post questions that are answered by others, in Yahoo! Answers fashion. Similar to commenting, the best answers can be voted up in a continual dialogue about specific issues. 

Support Trans* Health

Also founded this year is RAD, which stands for Referral Aggregator Database. RAD is an interactive collection of healthcare resources for queer and Trans* people. RAD is still in development. For now, you can follow their progress on Facebook. You can also lend a hand (or give financial gifts) to help the project along.