From: NewNowNext
Christi Salcedo is a survivor: She overcame a grueling battle with breast cancer that necessitated a double mastectomy and the removal of her lymph nodes. But when she posted a shirtless selfie the other day, it wasn’t just to raise awareness about cancer.
It was to let people know that transphobic legislation like North Carolina’s HB2 affects her, too.
“The great bathroom debate of 2016 has hurt more than just the transgender community,” she wrote on Facebook. “It has hurt us survivors.”
Salcedo, 32, opted not to have reconstructive surgery and says she’s been confronted by people unsure of her gender identity.
“I notice more eyes trying to figure me out,” she wrote. “At the grocery store, restaurants… Walmart was the worst. I want to scream, ’YES! You are seeing it right! This is breast cancer… Please check yourself!’ But instead I let my eyes meet theirs in an almost plea for a change in what has become our society.”
Salcedo lives in Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott has threatened to pass a “bathroom bill” similar to North Carolina’s. Should that happen, she worries she could be confronted in a public rest room or department store dressing room.
“I am personally of the belief that no transgender person wants to cause trouble in a bathroom. People just want to use the restroom,” she wrote.
“Persons undergoing cancer treatment or post cancer treatment may lack hair and wear a baseball hat. They may have undergone a mastectomy like myself. Please consider these things.”
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