I want to remain hopeful that, in my lifetime, we will be able to get rid of gender discrimination and violence in America. According to the Human Rights Campaign , at least 28 transgender people were murdered in 2017 in the United States alone, most of which are trans women of color — and that number is only growing. One of the stories from last year that resonated with me was the killing of Kedarie Johnson , a gender-fluid 16 year old in Iowa. Johnson was killed by two men because he was wearing a pink headband with leggings. The men who killed him thought he was a biological woman, murdering him once they found out otherwise. As someone who has been a victim of LGBTQ+-related violence and has survived a hate crime, this story makes me think about the night I was attacked, and if I had been killed. My story, as well as the stories of others who were murdered for expressing their gender the way they wanted to, makes me only want to continue fighting for LGBTQ+ rights — domestically and globally. But I, along with my clothes, am not enough.