Transgender Awareness Week spotlights stories, challenges in trans community

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- As the nation continues to mark Transgender Awareness Week, advocates say it's an important time to amplify the stories of trans people while also acknowledging the challenges the trans community is facing.

Tarren McDonnell is well aware of those challenges. While life for the 22-year-old is great now, there was a time when things were a lot more difficult.

"When I was 15, I was so depressed," said McDonnell.

At the time, she was struggling as a student at Perkiomen Valley High School, but things changed when she started to change.

"I came out when I was 16, and I started transitioning when I was 17," said McDonnell, a transgender woman.

Last year, she used her voice to speak out in front of the Perkiomen Valley School Board against a controversial bathroom policy that critics said was anti-trans.

"I got up there. I spoke out. I said what I needed to say. I shared my story," she said.

It's the kind of story that's put into the spotlight during Transgender Awareness Week.

"Our vision of an inclusive and hopeful future still remains very strong," said Ash Lazarus Orr with The Advocates for Trans Equality.

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He says that while the week can be a time to commemorate, right now, it's also a time of concern.

"Once we saw the (presidential) election results, we started seeing a very large increase in anxiety and fear," said Orr.

That anxiety was due to the anticipation that transgender people and advocates would have to fight harder for trans rights under the new presidential administration.

"People are exhausted," said Orr. "They're exhausted of the destructive politics that we're seeing."

The election, though, also brought about some high points. Representative-Elect Sarah McBride of Delaware is the first openly transgender person to be elected to the U.S. Congress.

"This is such a monumental achievement for our community and representation at the highest levels of government," said Orr.

Such an achievement continues the hope for people like McDonnell, whose mom is always in her corner.

"Just love her. We're so proud of her! We think the world of her," said Pamela McDonnell.

It helps to keep the good days going for McDonnell by living the life she was meant to have.

"The awareness is that we're here," she said. "And it'll help people become more open-minded."