I am asking this question based on a Reddit post that I saw. Why do black people (and non united-statesians) have less presence in the community? It feels super rare to see a person of colour getting mentioned, as I mostly see people of no colour. Is this some lack of vision that I have? Or is it really this way?
What do you mean by “in the community”, are you talking about IRL spaces or the internet, are you talking about support groups or pride organizations, are you talking about famous trans people that you know from TV and books?
Go watch the film Tangerine, there is plenty of trans people of color represented in that film, for example.
If there is a lack of representation, I would guess it’s an issue of compounding oppression - the people who are most visible are also probably more likely to be privileged in various ways (economic class, racial privilege, able bodied, etc.). Privilege makes moving through the world easier and it makes it easier to take opportunities that come by. When you’re poor you don’t have time to focus on things outside of your immediate survival, you’re a lot more likely to not go to that pride parade or go to support groups in between the work shifts you have and so on. You’re certainly less likely to be a famous actor, or get a book published.
I notice the most influential voices in trans spaces are often middle class white people. The memoirs and books that become notable and recommended are often by people with some combination of privileges.
Despite this, some of the most famous trans women I can think of are POC, e.g. Laverne Cox and Janet Mock, so it’s obviously not an absolute rule.
I see