Let's face it: Trans folks are super talented. So it's not surprising that people want to watch us, whether on TV, on the big screen, or on the Internet, because we make for awesome on-screen moments. This year, we've seen trans people do some pretty extraordinary and heartwarming things.
1. Like that time a transgender girl finally got her first dose of hormones...
2. ... and the time when actor, DJ, and model Ruby Rose welcomed the audience at the MTV EMA awards with "Ladies and gentleman and everyone in between," earning a win for gender-fluid people everywhere.
3. There was also Laura Jane Grace palling around with Miley Cyrus and Joan Jett while singing a cover of The Replacements' "Androgynous"...
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"She's happy with the way she looks / She's happy with her gender."
4. ... and we watched a trans teenager getting kissed by a girl for the first time.
5. We also saw trans people talk about their friendships, like when Janet Mock sat down with Oprah to talk about her life and her friend Wendi.
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"At the age of twelve I was given the gift of having a best friend who saw me."
6. And there was that amazing scene in Tangerine when Alexandra (Mya Taylor) lends Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) her wig when she's feeling blue.
7. It's also been a year when we've continued to educate people on trans issues, whether it's a group of friends putting together a video about what it's like to be trans...
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8. ... or an agender advocate getting interviewed about what it means to be non-binary.
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("Look, they / them / their, it's not that hard. Just use the pronouns!")
9. Then Laverne Cox taught us all how to work it for a good cause when she did a stunning number for this year's Broadway Bares AIDS benefit...
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10. ...and a trans guy showed us what hormonal transition is like when he posted a video of himself with a selfie every day from the time he started hormones until three years after.
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11. We also had our political moments, like when Jennicet Gutiérrez interrupted the President at the White House...
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12. ... and when the trans performance poetry group DarkMatter gave an interview with VICE and told us what they think about how gay marriage affects trans people of color...
13. ...like Shagasiya Diamond, a black trans performer and advocate who Fusion profiled as she tries to get back on her feet after ten years behind bars.
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14. There's also Tiq Milan and his wife Kim going in on street harassment...
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15. ...which can particularly target trans women, as demonstrated in this powerful performance piece from Signe Pierce and Alli Coates.
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16. Caitlyn Jenner alone produced a bevy of on-screen moments, like when she came out to Diane Sawyer as trans...
17. ...and YouTube sensation Gigi Gorgeous gave us her touching reaction.
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18. Then Caitlyn came out with her own show that produced moments like this one, where noted author Jenny Boylan schooled her on the meaning of womanhood.
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"You've gone through so much trouble to be a woman. Don't be a stupid one. Be a smart one."
19. Cait even got caught up in "transracial" Rachel Dolezal's mess, and YouTube star Kat Blaque broke down why the two women are not the same.
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Best line: "A traffic light is a social construct, but you're going to be in quite the pickle if you run a red light into oncoming traffic."
20. And it was great to see Cait mentoring a young trans person in the Geena Rocero-produced Logo web series, Beautiful As I Want To Be.
21. Speaking of mentors, here's Jazz Jennings mentoring a young trans girl on her reality show I Am Jazz, while trans photographer Rhys Harper takes their picture...
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22. ...and trans teacher Kumu Hina mentoring her gender-nonconforming student in A Place in the Middle.
23. There are times when trans people need guidance from cis people too, like this parent with her transgender child...
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24. or when Lili (Eddie Redmayne) asks her wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander) for help in The Danish Girl to go out publicly for the first time as a woman.
25. Sometimes the guidance even happens in bed, like when Maura from Transparent (Jeffrey Tambor) has sex as a woman for the first time, with a trans-inclusive babe named Vicky (Anjelica Houston).
26. There have also been times when we've needed a reminder that we're worth fighting for, like when Nomi (Jamie Clayton) from Sense8 experienced her girlfriend standing up for her...
27. ... and when Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) taught Jill (Alexandra Billings) in How To Get Away With Murder that trans women are worthy of love, and don't need to stay in abusive relationships.
Overall it's been a pretty cool year for transgender folks in the media. Here's just one final thought from Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), who isn't technically one of us — but hey, isn't being trans kinda like a superpower? Just remember:
