【Covet: Island of Desire】

Sharing your story of struggle and Covet: Island of Desireresilience can be revolutionary — especially when lives like yours are consistently misrepresented.

An ongoing photo and interview series called Transilienttaps into that idea, documenting the diverse lives and experiences of transgender and gender-nonconforming people around the U.S. The series aims to challenge mainstream media representation of trans lives, and prove that trans people are more than just their experiences with gender.

SEE ALSO: Moving ACLU video tells the story of a trans teen who could make history

Transilientis created for the community, by the community, featuring portrait-style photos of trans people along with excerpted, unedited interviews with those depicted.

The result is a raw and powerful Humans of New York-esque documentation of trans Americans' everyday lives.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The goal of the series, according to creators Basil Soper and Johanna Case, is to change the "trans narrative" one interview at a time. To do this, the pair shifts the focus away from a person's experience with gender with their questions, instead focusing on the many other aspects of an interviewee's life.

"We bring so much magnificence and creativity to the world and that is overlooked so often."

"The project intends to destroy a notion that trans folks are only trans and do not have a much going on outside of their gender identity," the creators wrote on the project site.

Transilient's first stage, shot last summer, documents 37 different people living in various areas of the country. Soper and Case spent June and July 2016 traveling around the U.S. — along with their 8-year-old Carolina dog, Yepper — to meet with those featured.

The duo is currently crowdfunding to continue the project this summer, and they also hope to integrate video into the next stage.

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Soper, who transitioned to male while living in North Carolina, was inspired to create the series with Case (who describes themself as "genderfluid-ish") after seeing an uptick in mainstream interest in trans lives and stories. This increase in fascination with the trans experience came after legislation like the state's "bathroom bill" law, HB2, made headlines.

As the battle for trans rights became more mainstream in North Carolina, Soper and Case, who are in a relationship, were often interviewed on their partnership and lives. But in the process, Case says they were often asked invasive questions about Soper's body and their sex lives.

"The law provoked the media to gush trans stories — but they were written from the cisgender gaze and I was tired of it," Soper says.

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The trans community has a long history of being mischaracterized and misrepresented in mainstream media. Many stories circulate that focus on their experience with gender alone, often gawking over the process of transitioning.

Since only 16 percent of people report having ever met a trans person, media representation is often how non-trans society forms opinions about trans rights and politics.

"If the trans community has no opportunity to represent itself, it's easy for people to make snap judgments about the community without ever really having a conversation with anyone who has transitioned," Case says.

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Transilientis Soper and Case's attempt to provide a comprehensive introduction to members of the community. Through the series, they hope to assert that trans people may have a complex gender history, but they otherwise lead very ordinary lives.

"Trans people are everywhere," Case says. "Trans people serve in the military. Love their moms. Work on themselves. Have their hearts broken. Dote on their cats and dogs. Obsess over Star Wars. Basically, trans people are not all that different than you."

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The series is still relatively new — and the effort to shift public opinion is no small feat. But Soper and Case say they're determined to document life as their community experiences it to help move the needle.

"We bring so much magnificence and creativity to the world and that is overlooked so often," Soper says. "I just think the trans community is one of the most lovely, diverse, strong, intelligent and compassionate groups of people I’ve ever encountered. We are sincerely beautiful."

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