In the UK, trans people are more often than not subject to ridicule and this makes gaining acceptance by friends, family or general public very hard, if not virtually impossible. I'd like to say that it's because they don't know how to react, or because they do not understand, etc. or perhaps it is a lack of education, but whilst gay and lesbianism are now more accepted in some environments than they were say 10 years ago, cross dressers still fall into another sector which seems to demand abuse, violence and public humiliation. Sad, but true.