If the riots that followed yet another police raid on the Stonewall Inn in 1968 became the furnace out of which a liberation movement was born, we should not forget that the transgendered Americans on the front line of change, were rapidly banished to the margins when the gay men -many of them Republican- took over. Sylvia Rivera has documented the early tragedy for transgendered women as the 'mainstream' gay movement looked down on them as freaks, ignoring their rights in favour of their own.

It would be fair to say that in 50 years and in spite of the early dismissal of them, transgendered Americans have not only proved their worth to society in general, they have had a wider impact on the world which sees 1968 as the start of something new, and, appropriately, in New York City, which remains the most exciting city on the Planet.

Just as important is the fact that trangendered Americans have been able to move beyond the stereotypes to become political representatives, artists, successful in business, in sport, in film, and have thus been able in many cases to transform prejudice into acceptance, hatred into love, and perhaps above all, to transform something illegal into something legal, indeed, of so everyday an occurrence it is mostly not remarkable.

The challenge, however, persists: for teenage transgendered women and men, many of the problem that existed in 1968 have not changed: family rejection and homelessness and unemployment, problems with alcohol and drug abuse; the absence of a stable, loving relationship. Each generation must face those challenges, but with the lack of support from social services, many of these problems persist.

Most depressing of all, has been the 'fightback' by extreme Republicans that has meant that far from increasing their rights year on year, since January 2017 Transgendered Americans are having their rights taken away, rights every other US citizen has, because they are transgendered, and not just the right to serve one's country in the military. Across the world, copying the US and often encouraged by lunatic Evangelical 'Christians', transgendered people -for example in the Caribbean, Africa and Russia- face discrimination at every level of society, criminalization, imprisonment and even execution.

That so much effort to undo 50 years of progress in the US is being undermined by a small group of extremists and their President reminds everyone just how fragile progress can sometimes be, that what you thought was permanent, turns out to be temporary.

So, celebrate the achievements, improve the basic conditions, and oppose the stone age morons who want it all to stop.