School is in session for those with open minds and hearts. Before you judge transgender people, perhaps hear us out.
1. Finding Purpose Through Adversity
“The thing is, my life hasn’t always been easy. Living this life now as a 43-year-old gay transgender man in Hollywood, on the spectrum with CPTSD, I can see I have developed quite substantial and resilient personality features due to my living through many hardships without a consistent support system that most in life appear to have.”
READ FULL ARTICLE: https://medium.com/@dylancotterthomascotter/finding-purpose-through-adversity-a90889641968?sharedUserId=dylancotterthomascotter
“I love being transgender. Transitioning saved my life. What have you done to improve your quality of life?
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3. 75 Negative Aspects of Being Transgender From My Lived Experience
“I wish happiness for all the people who have treated me poorly. I know that if they loved themselves enough as I do, they wouldn’t be so hateful. Happy people aren’t hating, so please, everyone, work on your own happiness; it will take you far as it has me. But just because I’m a happy trans man doesn’t mean I won’t call people out on their transphobic bullshit.”
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4. Being Gay and Trans in The Hospital Waiting Room
“No one wants to be here, but we all are, no matter our sexualities, gender identities, etc. Health concerns do not discriminate; eventually, we all end up here at some point in our lives — a collective human experience of fragility, vulnerability, and the need for care and compassion.”
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5. Trans Attraction and Cisgender Shame
“Shame doesn’t live in me as a proud gay transgender man, and it shouldn’t live where trans attracted individuals are either; however, it does for some because of a lack of awareness, a lack of societal inclusion of trans people, and a lack of basic human sexuality education programs inclusive of the full spectrum of both gender identity and human sexuality.”
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6. I’m an Extraordinary Transgender Man. Who The Fuck Are You?
“To be transgender is to be a big picture thinker. It’s to identify and correct a personal issue and to work through years of trials and tribulations to achieve a difficult goal. All the while in society, often being excluded, mocked, belittled, and/or dismissed outright. To still come out the other side of life, feeling and looking a million times better than how we started — a win is a win. What I’ve observed throughout my lifetime is that sometimes people who aren’t succeeding in the moment stay in a hater mentality, unable to be happy for others for the rest of their lives. That’s sad.”
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7. Cisgender Psychopathy & Professional Sabotage of Transgender Individuals in The Workplace By Male-Centered Insecure Cis-Het Women
“Being an intellectual gay transgender career professional, I have had to work ten times harder, for it appears nearly regularly ten times less the opportunity in my professional career since beginning my physical transition in 2016. Now that you have this context, let’s jump right in.
Hell hath no fury like a homophobic, transphobic, psychopathic woman attempting to conceal her true hateful identity from the world.”
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8. White Cis Gays and Transgender Erasure in Entertainment
“So I’m calling bullshit; you can’t rewrite history and take transgender women of color out of it because you were held accountable for being a fake trans-ally and not a nice person.”
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9. Your Interpretation of Transgender People’s Words Mirrors Your Relationship With Your Own Pain.
“So I see that as one of the biggest hurdles to the understanding of my community. The assumption that when one person speaks of their experience, it takes away something from someone else.
That’s not how the world works, as two things can be true at once.”
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10. Anti-Trans Propaganda Machine? You Decide.
“In PR, if you are not already familiar, we utilize many avenues to submit our clients as sources for publication and/or broadcast opportunities. In these systems, publications and broadcasters post the topics they will be writing about. Now, I want to discuss how media entities partner with investment firms:”
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11. The War on Femininity Is Being Televised. Men Call That Shit Out.
“Call the constant public discourse that cis-het males have on hating transgender women for exactly what it is. They are intrigued, attracted, and fanboys.”
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12. The High Cost of Trans Activism in Media: A Transgender Publicist’s Perspective
“Rarely, if ever, do we hear of publicists who also take the path to becoming media activists. Good for you, I’m unlike anyone you’ve ever met.
It’s a huge thing to place both your business and personal brand out into the media in any fashion. Activism within the news media is not a typical avenue for many publicists. I am one of a kind because, as a proud gay transgender man and publicist, I do not have the luxury of silence.”
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13. Make First Impressions, Not Expectations
“When people approach someone they’ve never met with an agenda or attempt to make an opportunity for themselves the moment they learn a few details about your life, it’s a bad first impression. Based on my profession, this happens often, so I rarely attend events. It is why I stay firm with my boundaries.”
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14. Receiving and Rejecting Unsolicited Advice
“I do not live in the ‘what if’ section of life; I exist very much in the ‘make shit happen’ section; it’s far more productive.”
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15. For Cis People Reading My Trans Books
“I write non-fiction to document proof of life and to showcase the reality of what the world has been like for me as a gay transgender man. For cisgender people who will be reading my books, I speak a lot about your community in the books in very blunt terms, as frankly, I’ve not been treated all too well by a great many cis people since transitioning. So my note to anyone reading my books who does not share my identity or sexuality is, step outside of yourself, do not center yourself when hearing the word cisgender, but know that within the cis community, you are already doing your work by simply being open enough to consider reading any of my work regarding my life.”
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ABOUT DYLAN THOMAS COTTER:
Rebel with a cause, driven by authenticity, self-expression, and liberation for all.
Dylan Thomas Cotter is a strategist, public relations leader, and brand communications executive with more than fifteen years of experience at the intersection of entertainment, media, and technology.
Cotter is known for securing numerous Tier 1 (top-tier) and Tier 2 media placements across key markets including but not limited to GQ, Rolling Stone, Out Magazine, The Advocate, Pride, Inked Magazine, Real Simple, VICE, KTLA, Reader’s Digest, Mashable, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Life UK, Newsweek, Men’s Health, Parade Magazine, Betches, U.S. News & World Report, Women’s Health Magazine, NursingColleges.com, Women.com, South China Morning Post, Truthout, MIC, The Manual, Curl Magazine, International Business Times UK, TechRound, GB News, The Irish Star US, The Mirror, MSN and AOL.
Cotter is an advisor to founders, artists, and executives on brand positioning, reputation, corporate social responsibility, and strategic communications. As an openly gay transgender professional, Dylan Thomas Cotter is committed to fostering inclusive, respectful, and affirming work environments.
His latest book, THINK LIKE A TRANSGENDER THOUGHT LEADER, is out now, and his memoir, TRANSGENDER & TRIGGERING THE LIFE OF DYLAN THOMAS COTTER, is available now at Barnes & Noble, Harvard Book Store, Book Soup, and Skylight Books, amongst other fine retailers, and is distributed worldwide through IngramSpark.