Editor's note: Hannah Simpson is a transgender advocate. The views expressed here are her own.It seems hard to believe now because of how far I have come, but I only began living “full-time” as a female, at age 29, two years ago. I had grown my hair long, been taking prescribed female hormones for over a year, and was finally ready to reveal myself to the world. I was also in my second year of medical school in Harlem. My ambition was to help future trans children and adults with the compassion and competence that I waited decades to find for myself.But instead, transphobia and ignorance have placed my dream of becoming a doctor on hold, if not shattered it completely, as the stress and process of reacting to even modest attacks against me proved a distraction from my studies. I was unable to advance with my classmates, nor feel safe returning to school later. That's why the latest twist in the debate over North Carolina's bathroom laws for trans people hits particularly hard for me.The conservative American Family Association (AFA), which has organized a boycott of Target because of its inclusive stance, has also reportedly sent men into women’s restrooms for the sole purpose of “testing” the boundaries of transgender-affirming policies, according to an interview AFA spokeswoman Sandy Rios gave to Breitbart News. (When I reached out to the AFA for comment via email, AFA representative Deborah Hamilton wrote that the group "would never do this.")If true, I believe that this group's actions are not only creepy, but that they represent the kind of harassment and ignorance I have experienced firsthand. So I will do my best to explain just how hurtful and dangerous this kind of bigotry is as a young woman who has lived through it, in a medical school of all places.