Artemis Shishir, a trans man and an editor at Prism & Pen, lives in India where the idea of gender has been fluid for at least many centuries. "Transgender" is a word we invented for English very recently, but comparable words have existed in Artemis's two native South Asian languages going back just about as far as written records of the languages themselves.

When we speak English and use the word transgender, we aren't always communicating as effectively as we could be, because even when he says "trans" he hears those older, ancient words in his head. They carry much more cultural baggage, both positive and negative.

Here's something to think about: Even though transgender equity in South Asia is poor, even though trans advocates there campaign for basic civil rights and humane treatment, you would be hard pressed to find an Indian person who denied that trans people are real and that their genders (however they would define them) are real. They know it's real. They've known forever. It's part of their culture.

That raises a distressing point. It's quite possible (even common) for trans people to be systemically and badly mistreated regardless of what anyone thinks ideologically about gender. Ideology often acts as an excuse for inhumanity, but it is not a necessary excuse.

Trans people deserve to be embraced, accepted, and loved no matter what anyone thinks about gender. Because trans people are ordinary humans, just like everyone else.