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REPORTER: Finally, this hour on The Daily Circuit, the City of Minneapolis will host a Trans Equity Summit next week. And to judge by popular culture, it might appear transgender people are finally gaining acceptance in mainstream society.

We talked about Orange is the New Black. Laverne Cox is known for her role there, recently made the cover of Time next to the headline The Transgender Tipping Point. Janet Mock made The New York Times Best Seller List with her book Redefining Realness as well. It's a memoir about growing up trans.

But if you talk to local transgender activists here in the Twin Cities, the current reality for most is far from that of those experienced by the celebrities. Marianne Combs recently moderated a conversation with several transgender artist activists about the issues they face, and has this report. A warning, though, some of the language might not be appropriate for young listeners.

MARIANNE COMBS: For anyone whose gender doesn't conform to the traditional image of male or female, the barriers to success, even to basic survival, are many. Garrett Hoffman is getting his doctorate at the University of Minnesota. Hoffman says while he's now thriving in the academic environment, he's the exception, not the rule.

GARRETT HOFFMAN: When I work with trans students, there are a lot of compounding issues that might limit student's access to higher education, particularly financial, and particularly if the student is like looking to medically transition, which costs a lot of money. And also there's cultural things that happen in school around-- I work particularly looking at GLBT centers in schools and how that sort of creates like a very specific space for a very specific type of student. And how schools will look at that center and say, oh my gosh, we're doing a very good job. We have this center and the center is the top in the nation. And so A-plus, here we go.

Well, I have students coming to my door whose parents disown them, who are trying to apply for financial independence from their parents for their financial aid package. I'm working with students who don't feel like they have a space in those centers. I'm working with students who are needing to drop out to transition because they can't keep up with their coursework when they're going to class and their professor is calling them by a different name than they had explicitly told them they wanted to be called by.

And then on top of all that, those are students who are already in school. We're looking at higher education now as the pathway to the middle class, as President Obama said. And so if we can't get students in, students who are-- 40% of homeless youth are GLBT identified. And so how are we getting students who are coming from that background into higher education so that they can get basically like what has become in our society a baseline education?

MARIANNE COMBS: Many trans youth face rejection from their families, forcing them out onto the street to fend for themselves. Their situation is complicated by their photo IDs. A transgender woman with a driver's license that identifies her as a man faces huge barriers to employment and housing. Roxanne Anderson worked for years with homeless trans youth as the director of TYSN, the Trans Youth Support Network.

ROXANNE ANDERSON: I had to take a young person last night to the Greyhound because she lost her housing. And she moved in with somebody who she thought was her friend and was there about 24 or 25 days when her roommate said, we're evicted. We have to move in four days.

This is a story that happens all the time. Unfortunately, most of the time, young folks don't have that person who can bail them out and they couch hop for a minute. And then that gets old, and then they just don't have any place to go. And it happens over and over and over.

And it's not just young folks. It happens a lot in trans community. And so I think it's an issue that we don't talk about a lot. And it's kind of an unseen number in the count. So we count homeless people in Minnesota and often trans folks get kind of left out of that count because they're invisible.

MARIANNE COMBS: Many transgender people see that invisibility as one of the barriers to improving their rights and their lives. Katie Burgess is a professional juggler, performance artist, and outspoken community activist.

KATIE BURGESS: One of the biggest killers in our community is isolation and the reality that I think most folks on this panel grew up without being able to see themselves represented, period. Can't be overstated. The only place that I saw other trans folks growing up was on Jerry Springer. And it wasn't until I was 18 that I met another trans woman, and that changed my life.

I'm here today with the hope that some other trans women out there will be able to hear that there is a trans woman juggler who learned how to juggle when she was homeless. And it saved her life. And that, actually, juggling can save your life. And I want to talk to you about it. I want to talk to you about it while we go down to the government center and figure out how to get your ID changed or go down to city hall and try to reform prison policy.

But at the end of the day, it's about the fact that we're worthy human beings. We're powerful human beings. And we can come together to not just reform those prison policies, but to destroy prisons, to not just see ourselves on the cover of Time magazine but to burn those conglomerates to the ground and develop our own media.

MARIANNE COMBS: Still, Katie Burgess and others recognize the powerful impact of trans celebrities and how their fame is channeling attention to trans issues. Poet Andrea Jenkins says she was deeply moved by seeing Laverne Cox on the cover of Time magazine, not just because Cox is transgender, but because she's a woman of color.

ANDREA JENKINS: What I'm not hearing is stories like the story of my dear friend, Mikey Jackson, who died of AIDS or complications from AIDS and the struggles that transgender women, particularly women of color face in terms of isolation, stigma, the dual realities of racism and transphobia. Those are the stories that we need to hear more about. And we need to see those representations in the media, in all forms of media-- movies, plays on stage. There are some powerful determination and resilience in those stories. And they have a universality that transcends, just the sensationalism of being transgender.

MARIANNE COMBS: While the trans community is working to break down stereotypes and raise awareness around issues like housing, education, and health care, it's still plagued by its own internal battles. More than one panelist mentioned disappointment over how transgender people are treated by the gay and lesbian community, even at events such as the annual Pride parade. Performance artist Jaime Carrera says such disappointment is not new.

JAIME CARRERA: Now that I've thought about it more, it's kind of like history repeating itself, I feel, because I feel like the gay community as a whole tends to cannibalize themselves constantly. I mean, it happened in the '80s and it's happening again now with trans and gender nonconforming folks. And it really kind of makes me-- it bums me out because we're not each other's enemies. Like, there's clear-cut enemies that I see and those are Republican white-haired men who hate our guts. I'm not saying all Republican people are transphobic, but, I mean, come on, let's get real.

MARIANNE COMBS: Carrera explained that even something as simple as language has come to divide trans people along generational lines. Words such as "tranny" and "faggot" are triggers for some. But for others, they are part of their community's history. Carrera points to the popular show Ru Paul's Drag Race, which has recently taken flack for its language.

JAIME CARRERA: I love the word tranny. I don't think it's offensive. I'm the kind of person that I use those words to empower myself. So I feel like It's kind of a waste of time and it's really taking attention away from things that are far more important. As far as I'm concerned, we need to make sure that people don't murder us and people actually go to jail for doing that. I mean, fighting over a drag queen saying tranny to me is like the stupidest thing.

MARIANNE COMBS: Kelly Brazil is both a sculptor and a case manager with the GLBT host home program. Brazil says pop culture has an all-too-powerful influence on young people, and it's important to stay focused on issues that matter.

KELLY BRAZIL: I spend less time encouraging them to pick up Time magazine and watch TV than to actually sit and have a conversation about what they really need. Often, it's about going to the government center with them to get their ID changed or whatever it is. Going to HCMC to meet a doctor for the first time or making a phone call to get a dental appointment. It's about struggling with the systems and the [BLEEP] every day.

Even getting up and being able to go to school for some of these young people is an impossible thing. So it's listening to what they really need from supportive people then really attempting to help them gain the confidence to do what they want to do. And oftentimes, they can't get a job because they don't have an education, they don't have an ID, they don't have supportive adults that will help them get up in the morning or what's the point really.

MARIANNE COMBS: For all the hardships that trans youth experience as they look for acceptance and stability, many of the panelists said they think things have improved over the years for the trans community. They have faith things will continue to get better. Again, Jaime Carrera.

JAIME CARRERA: I think that kids today have it. I'm envious of the youth of today. And I'm not saying all our problems are gone. I don't think they'll ever be gone. And people don't like to hear things like this, but racism is always going to exist.

Transphobia is always going to exist. Homophobia is always going to exist. Sexism is always going to exist. We just got to find a way to make our society function a lot better with those things, knowing that they are going to be a constant. It's human nature. We can't make people love us, but we can make them know that we have a lot of power just like they do.

MARIANNE COMBS: To that end, on September 25, the City of Minneapolis is hosting a Trans Equity Summit at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs to help the trans community claim some of that power. I'm Marianne Combs, Minnesota Public Radio News.