Shemales and Transgendered survival in Community

I know a lot of transgendered people personally through my work in the HIV/AIDS field. I can honestly say that I thought of each one of these people as females, although they were male born. In the beginning, I had difficulty with the whole concept and was unsure of myself, and I think that is the reason why transgendered people have so much difficulty living in our societies; so many people do not take the time to understand them. The patients themselves were the ones who "educated" me about who they were and what they went through and felt. My part was to be open-minded, interested in them as human beings, and willing to educate myself. Those are the keys for the acceptance of transgenders in society- Society must be willing to accept them as people...Don't label them according to sexuality, but view them as humans and get to know them.