Washington DC has revealed the first in a series of ads of a transgender rights campaign.

Promising to ‘promote respect for the District’s transgender and gender non-conforming communities’, activists say it is the first equality drive of its kind.

One of the ads features Kisha, a trans woman who lives in the District of Columbia.

The ad quotes Kisha, saying: ‘I love wandering through Smithsonian museums, eating on H Street with friends, and going to shows at Howard Theatre.

‘I’m a transgender woman and I’m part of DC. Please treat me the way any woman would want to be treated: with courtesy and respect.’

The posters then notes discrimination based on gender identity and expression is illegal in the District of Columbia and gives a phone number for more information.

Speaking at the launch night to Buzzfeed yesterday (13 September), Kisha, who did not give her last name, said: ‘I believe in the message. I believe in equality for everybody, all over the world.

‘Growing up in a household with a single mother and nine siblings, my mother always taught us about equality.

‘When I started living as a transgender woman outside of the home, it was the first time I saw the discrimination.’

Metropolitan Police have reported a sharp rise in trans-related hate crimes, referring to the stabbing death of Deoni Jones at a bus stop in February.

Gender identity activists maintain there is persistent anti-trans violence and discriminate in United States’ capital.

Kisha said: ‘They’re going through everyday life, everyday struggles – the same as straight people, rich people, everyone.’

Saying lesbian and gay people are a more ‘well known’, Kisha said of transgender people, ‘I feel like we’re in such a little box, they put labels on us.

‘Tonight is going to change a lot of minds.’

Check out the advert here: