Janet Mock Is Our Best Ambassador to the Media

Her coming-out brought with it a number of people questioning her authenticity as a woman. Others accused her boyfriend of being gay, and through it all, she was forced to confront the antitransgender bias that permeates society. She still confronts it, often with an audience watching.

In February, while on a media tour in support of her New York Times best seller Redefining Realness, Mock appeared on Piers Morgan Live to promote the book. What ensued became emblematic of all that is wrong with how trans people are treated by the media at large. The now-infamous interview overwhelmingly focused on Mock's personal medical history and all but ignored the book she was there to promote.

"You used to be, yourself, a man," the show's eponymous host added at the tail end of a question about disclosing one's trans status to romantic prospects. On the night the pre-taped interview aired, what seemed like one poor word choice by Morgan was amplified as an on-screen chiron appearing under Mock's image, reading, "Was a boy until age 18," and the show's Twitter account tweeted, "How would you feel if you found out that the woman you are dating was formerly a man?"

Mock then angered Morgan by tweeting, "'Was a boy until 18.' @PiersMorganLive get it the f*k together. #redefiningrealness." Her tweet launched thousands more from users all around the world, criticizing Morgan's lack of tact.

Ever one to make the best out of a bad situation, Mock agreed to appear on the show the following night in hopes of discussing why so many people were so upset by the prior night's show, and to clarify that no, she was not "a man" or "a boy" up until the moment of having genital reconstructive surgery at age 18. Sadly, Morgan appeared less than open to having a true dialogue with Mock; instead speaking over her, and later using his Twitter account to rail against transgender viewers who were angry with him.

In April, Mock teamed up with Fusion TV's Alicia Menendez for a faux interview to illustrate how uncomfortable and invasive questions and comments like Morgan's can make trans people.

"What's so amazing is if I were to look at you, I would have never not known that you weren't trans," Mock said to Menendez in the lighthearted and informative flipping of the script. "Do you have a vagina? Do you feel like your idea of self, your cisness, holds you back in any way?"

The faux interview took a creative approach to addressing many of the unsettling and frustrating questions trans people find themselves asked during interviews.