Bayne MacGregor, nice rant!

And TG people are what percentage of the population?

rechtub percentage of the population has no actual bearing, an injustice done to a minority of one single person is still an injustice. The Government, the legal system, the health system, these things exist to serve all Australians not just the most common ones. And wheelchair access and other changes of systems to acomodate the needs of people show that systems must deal with minorities large and small.

That said this is no tiny insignificant number of people. Even though most people keep being transgender a secret which prevents us from getting the real total we can know some minimums. Note: in this i'm including Intersex as part of Transgender, something some Intersex people support and others do not. Many prefer to use the term Intersex Sex and Gender Diverse or ISGD but it will make this easier for you rechtub to get a neat minimum figure this way.

About 1 in 60 people are Intersex. about 1.6% of Australians
About 1 in 500 people are Transsexual. about 0.2% of Australians
USA APA figures found the number of males who are crossdressers at 3%+ a UK study found 6%+ (a more reliable minimumj as lesser prejudice than the USA results in more people being willing to admit it to researchers) many expect and anecdotal reports support that the actual numbers are around 10%. Female crossdressers do exist but have yet to be studied to my knowledge but figures are likely similar. Genderqueer i have not yet heard of any studies on. Neurologically bi-gendered brains though have some preliminary figures of about 1 in 3 people, but that is still very early data.

Compared to Gay and Lesbian Australian figures of between 2% and 3% (but 20% have some attraction to the same sex) and Indiginous population of about 2.7%.

So if we take the minimum USA figure of more than 3% of males we can see that the Crossdresser male population is larger than the Gay male population and larger than the Aboriginal male population. If we consider the UK figure then it's more than twice as large as either of those demographics.

Of course those who are visible in present society suffer more of the prejudice than those keeping it hidden. But keeping it hidden is also known to do psychological harm increasing risks of depression etc.

So we know that there are several Intersex kids in every school, most schools will have at least one transsexual and there's likely a crossdresser in every classroom.

So in short a minimum of 3.3% (and that's without crossdressing women or Genderqueers counted, USA figure base) and much more likely minimum of 4.8% (still no CD women included, UK base figure used) and quite plausibly 7.8% - 11.8% of Australians are Transgender.

The squeeky wheel gets the most oil.

This is a famous saying and it is also the reason why so few attract so much attention.

The reality is, the majority of people simply don't care if someone is gay, a cross dresser, a transexual etc, etc.

It's just that these minority groups make so much noise that they are eventually heard.

I still don't think it is an excuse for doing wrong, or being treated favourably.

Now on the other hand, if you are gay, a cross dresser or a transexual, by all means knock yourself out, at your place, not ours.

Keep it in the closet and all will be fine.

It is when they try to mix it with main stream that they get picked on.

After all, it is not the 'norm' and that's simply a fact.

"The squeeky wheel gets the most oil."

The media has under-reported it. Press releases and studies get less airplay if they are about Transgender issues unless they can be reported in a negative light.

"The reality is, the majority of people simply don't care if someone is gay, a cross dresser, a transexual etc, etc."

Rather true. Galaxy polls of recent years prove this. But while Gay and Transgender rights issues range from 60% support (marriage equality) to 85% support (antidiscrimination protection) and with of that latter poll only 4% strongly against Vs 40% strongly for the politicians have been listening to the 4% not the 40%. If anything most people care in favour of GLBTI however the laws and policies go against the will of the people!

"It's just that these minority groups make so much noise that they are eventually heard"

At key points in the past having to resort to violence to do so despite being less violent than "normal" people see Compton Riot, Stonewall Riot, 1st Mardi Gras and subsequent court scandal, White Night Riot. Most of which were fighting against police bashing raping and in the case of Mardi Gras suspected of murdering Transgender and Gay people.

"I still don't think it is an excuse for doing wrong, or being treated favourably."

It's not. Sending a Transgender person to a current prison would be to give them EXTRA punishmment that Cisgender people do not get. Why don't you acknowledge this rechtub? That prison being WORSE currently for Transgender people means they cannot receive the same sentences. Only when they get the same treatment in prison will it be fine and I already said we need a Transgender prison to do that. Don't you agree or do you think that the death after 6 days in prison without even a trial or a standard investigation was an acceptable situation?

"Now on the other hand, if you are gay, a cross dresser or a transexual, by all means knock yourself out, at your place, not ours."

What i am is immaterial to the argument.
This country is the place of Transgender people. Transgender people were here amongst and treated respectfully by Aboriginal Australia for tens of thousands of years. Same for all our neighbouring Polynesian countries too. There were Transgender people amongst every ship of imigrants. Transgender peoples place is "our" place, everyone's place. Every public place is a Transgender persons place every bit as much as any cisgender persons place. Every park every street every council every parliament every shopping centre every pub is a Transgender place.

"Keep it in the closet and all will be fine."

Why the heck should they? That causes psychological ahrm, depression, suicide. They are only in the closet because they were forced there under threat of unjust brutal laws of the past. These people belong in public visibility just as much as you do. Why not put heterosexuality and Cisgender in the closet? Transgender images are found in cave paintings dating from before humans invented writing, including in NSW. A Crossdresser or Fakaleiti was respected by the royal family of our neighbour Tonga to arrange the wedding of the Kings Daughter! The Tiwi Islands, part of Australia, have 4% of the population and growing Transgender as they take their native traditions back from the brink of destruction.

The closet is new. Only a couple hundred years in this part of the world and even in parts of Europe thats true!