transgender injustices
2 additions to document , most recent over 7 years ago
| When | Why |
|---|---|
| Nov-03-18 | transgender unfair advantage |
| Nov-03-18 | transgender unfair advantage |
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The following I felt was necessary to present a real picture of the discrimination we transgender people face. I submit the following which I extracted from the 2011 US Trans Study, conducted by NCTE (The National Center For Transgender Equality) and The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
I will note that yours truly, the Diarist, IS INCLUDED in the 6,450 respondents to the 2011 US Trans Survey. At the bottom of this, in an Update, I will post my experiences as it relates to this study.
Results from the 2015 survey have not yet been released, presumably they are in the process of compiling the data and crunching the numbers. The full report is well over 200 pages, and so I extracted some of the most salient points for easy reading here. A link to the full study is included in the summary. It is submitted without any additional comment below:
51 percent who were harassed/bullied in school
61 percent who had low income household or had suffered physical assault
64 percent who had suffered sexual assault
Eviction due to bias
School bullying/harassment so bad the respondent had to drop out
Teacher bullying
Physical assault due to bias
Sexual assault due to bias
Homelessness because of gender identity/expression
Loss of relationship with partner or children due to gender identity/expression
Denial of medical service due to bias
Incarceration due to gender identity/expression
Those who expressed a transgender identity or gender non-conformity while in grades K-12 reported alarming rates of harassment (78%), physical assault (35%) and sexual violence (12%).
Refusal of care: 19% of our sample reported being refused care due to their transgender or gender non- conforming status, with even higher numbers among people of color in the survey.
Nineteen percent (19%) had been refused treatment by a doctor or other provider because of their transgender or gender non-conforming status.
Nineteen percent (19%) of respondents became homeless at some point because they were transgender or gender non-conforming, and 1.7% of respondents were currently homeless.
Were more likely to be HIV-positive (7.12%) than those who had not (1.97%)
29% were turned away altogether
42% were forced to stay in facilities designated for the wrong gender
and others encountered a hostile environment.
Fifty-five percent (55%) reported being harassed
25% were physically assaulted
and 22% were sexually assaulted.
moving into a less expensive home/ apartment (40%)
moving in with family or friends (25%)
and having sex with people to sleep in a bed (12%).
35% reported discrimination or harassment from police officers
35% reported discrimination or harassment from doctors/hospitals
33% reported discrimination or harassment in hotels and restaurants
32% reported discrimination or harassment from a government agency or official
26% reported discrimination or harassment on a bus, train, or taxi
22% reported discrimination or harassment in an emergency room setting
21% reported discrimination or harassment on an airplane, from airport staff or TSA agents
19% reported discrimination or harassment from a judge or other officer of the court
18% reported discrimination or harassment from a mental health clinic
12% reported discrimination or harassment from a EMT's or ambulance workers
9% reported discrimination or harassment from domestic violence shelters/programs
7% reported discrimination or harassment from rape crisis centers
6% reported discrimination or harassment from drug treatment programs
Only one-fifth (21%) have been able to update all of their IDs and records with their new gender
and one-third (33%) had updated none of their IDs/records.
About half (49%) reported updating the gender in their Social Security record.
About one quarter (26%) reported updating the gender on their passport.
About one quarter (24%) reported updating the gender on their birth certificate.
Seven percent were denied
68% either did not try or chose “not applicable” likely meaning they did not have a passport.
Only 21% reported that they had been able to update all of their IDs and records.
About half (46%) indicated that they have been able to update some of their IDs and/or records
One-third (33%) indicated that none of their IDs and records matched their current gender identity.
16% of respondents who had been to jail or prison reported being physically assaulted and 15% reported being sexually assaulted.
12% of people who had been in jails or prisons reporting denial of routine health care and
In May, "Orange is the New Black" transgender star Laverne Cox appeared on the cover of Time. Earlier this month, Amazon’s “Transparent,” which focuses on a family with a transgender father, won the Golden Globe for best comedy series. And on Tuesday night, for the first time ever, a president said the word “transgender” in the State of the Union address:
As Americans, we respect human dignity…” Obama declared. “That’s why we defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, hopes the mention thrusts transgender issues into more national policy discussions. “The point of the president’s speech was about economics, about making the country more livable for people in the working class and in poverty,” she said. “It wasn’t a transgender speech at all -- but just inserting the words LGBT the way he did… He’s bringing us into that dream, that promise.”
Though visibility of transgender Americans is rapidly heightening, people in the community still face discrimination from employers, housing agencies, medical providers and the military, Keisling said. They endure harassment in every aspect of their lives: at home, school, work and on the streets.
Helping to stop the discrimination, she said, starts with data collection.
Gary Gates, an LGBT demographer at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law’s Williams Institute, came up with the most frequently cited (yet greatly limited) estimates of the country’s transgender population: 700,000, or about 0.3 percent of adults.The figure comes from two surveys. One was conducted in Massachusetts in 2007 and 2009; the other in California in 2003.
The largest government-funded population surveys ask for your gender. But the U.S. Census, for example, allows for only two responses: male or female. There’s no option for transgender folks and therefore no way to broadly count them. When you can’t quantify the statistics of a group, Keisling said, you can’t understand its challenges -- or easily lobby for federal funding -- without evidence.
“We know there are disparities in the LGBT community, especially when it comes to things like housing and health care,” Keisling said. “It’s imperative to collect that data so there is a documented government interest to solve these problems.”
So far, what’s known about transgender Americans comes from comparatively small samples. In 2008, the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force published Injustice at Every Turn -- the largest survey yet, with only 6, 450 participants. (The same researchers are now working on a bigger update to be published next year.)
Forty-one percent of transgender people surveyed in Injustice at Every Turn said they had attempted suicide, compared with 1.6 percent of the general population. Risk increased for those who reported bullying, sexual assault and job loss.
Analysis this year by the Williams Institute found 78 percent of transgender respondents who had endured physical or sexual violence at school had attempted suicide.
Transgender respondents were nearly four times more likely to have a household income of less than $10,000, compared to the general population, Injustice at Every Turn found. They were unemployed at twice the rate of the general population, or roughly between 10 percent and 14 percent throughout 2008, the year the survey was conducted.
One-fifth of survey respondents said they’d been homeless at some point. More than half reported being harassed at a homeless shelter by residents and staff. Nearly one-third said they were turned away altogether. Nearly a quarter said they were sexually assaulted
Four years ago, the Department of Housing and Urban Development published a report showing evidence “that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals and families are being arbitrarily excluded from some housing opportunities in the private sector.” Eleven percent of respondents reported having been evicted due to bias, according to the report, and 19 percent reported becoming homeless.
A 2010 survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force found most transgender respondents received some kind of transition-related medical care. However, 19 percent said they had been refused care due to their gender status, with higher numbers among people of color. Twenty-eight percent said they had been harassed in a medical setting. And half said they had to teach their medical providers about transgender care.
According to the the Injustice at Every Turn survey, 25 percent of transgender recipients reported losing a job because they did not conform to gender norms. A staggering 90 percent said they faced some form of transgender-based discrimination.
They're barred from entering military service by medical regulations, Keisling said. Potential service members must undergo a physical exam before joining. They can be rejected for evidence of genital surgery. Still, about 15,000 transgender people are currently serving in the military, according to research from the Williams Ins
A sign posted outside a gender-neutral bathroom at a restaurant, taking a stance against LGBTQ discrimination.
For more than 15,000 students today, the act of going to the bathroom at school has become a daily choice between risking their personal safety or breaking the law. This is the case for transgender teenagers living in North Carolina under the law of HB2, or commonly known as #BathroomBill. On March 23, 2016, North Carolina became the first state in the country to ban people from using government-owned restrooms that don't match the gender written on their birth certificates.
This outright discrimination against transgender people has sparked a national conversation about LGBTQ injustice. In reaction to HB2, Target announced its store-wide policy that continues to welcome transgender people to use the bathrooms and fitting rooms that correspond with their gender identity. In their statement, Target said “We believe that everyone — every team member, every guest, and every community — deserves to be protected from discrimination, and treated equally,” #Preach.
Aside from the unfairness of it all, restrooms have often been a source of danger and harassment for transgender people. According to a recent survey in Washington, D.C., 70% of transgender people have been attacked, harassed or denied access to a bathroom.
The transgender and LGBTQ community already faces significant discrimination without the need for this additional worry about whether or not it's legal to use the bathroom they feel most comfortable in. Many universities have resources for LGBTQ people, such as bathroom maps to help identify gender-neutral or single-stall bathroom options on campus.
Recently, lawmakers in six more states have proposed bathroom bills that would discriminate against transgender people in Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina, Virginia, Texas, and Washington. Now more than ever, it’s important to stand up against LGBTQ injustice to fight for equal rights for all.
How can you demonstrate acceptance with the LGBTQ community at your school? What can you do to make your environment safer and more welcoming for your transgender peers?
Join a community of peacemakers and create a project to address LGBTQ injustice today!
titute.
Added November 03, 2018 at 12:51am
by emmanuela androulidakis
Title: transgender unfair advantage
In this Olympics season, I wasn’t surprised that the subject of transgender athletes came up in my recent online chat, specifically trans women competing against those “born female,” as the writer described. The issue: With new Olympic guidelines in place, do trans women athletes have an unfair advantage?
“I’m LBGTQ-friendly (use the bathroom of your gender identity, marry the person you love, etc.), but the one issue I can’t quite resolve in my head is athletics. Transgender females — biologically they would tend to be taller, faster and stronger than those born female, particularly if they are not taking any hormones (though there is a spectrum of these strengths across both genders). What are your thoughts?”
Indeed, there was a time when all this seemed pretty simple. We had men and women, boys and girls — but we now know that gender is anything but simple.
Added November 03, 2018 at 1:12am
by emmanuela androulidakis
Title: transgender unfair advantage
Some Connecticut parents are petitioning to change the rules of state high school athletics after two transgender track and field stars began dominating girls' competitions.
Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood, both 16, are transgender student-athletes who compete on the girls' track and field teams at their high schools, and their state championship glory has triggered a heated debate in their community.
Terry and Andraya came in first and second place, respectively, in the 100-meter race at the State Open Finals on June 4. Terry also won the top prize for the 200-meter dash.
"I was expecting it," Terry told ABC News' Linsey Davis of the backlash she's faced as a trans athlete. "Every day, I would go home, search up 'track and field high school Terry Miller.'"
Some online comments have been harsh, Terry said. Critics complain that she and Andraya both have an unfair advantage, after having been assigned the male sex at
birth. The critics say the male testosterone hormone gives them a leg up in sports.
Andraya told ABC News that she decided "the summer before ninth grade” it would be more appropriate for her to run on the girls' team because she
identifies as female.
Both athletes have begun hormone therapy and said for the most part they've been welcomed by family, friends, coaches and administrators with open arms.
Recently, however, two petitions were started in an attempt to change the rules at their local governing body of interscholastic sports, which allows students to participate on a team based on their gender identity or how they identify.
he girls athletes are at the physical disadvantage compared to the transgender female," said Bianca Stanescu, a parent who started one of the petitions after her daughter lost to Andraya and Terry at a track meet in May.
"They have, naturally, testosterone within their body that has been proven to give a physical advantage in sports," Stanescu added.
Stanescu, who did not know the girls were already taking the female hormones, has garnered a little over one hundred signatures to date. Medical science shows that estrogen therapy changes the body, replacing some lean muscle with fat, though it affects every individual differently.
Both girls said they try not to let the online complaints get to them.
"I'm not affected by it at all," Andraya said. "I just roll my eyes and keep pushing."
Andraya's parents said what is most important is not track and field accolades, but the well-being of their child.
"Track is number 100 on my list of concerns as a father of a transgender daughter," Rahsaan Yearwood told ABC News.
"I'm talking about raising a child for life, and so is it fair that that child is excluded?" he added. "Is it fair that that child doesn't feel like they have a place they belong?
Ngozi Nnaji, Andraya's mother, added that running on the girls' team "allows her to be who she wants to be."
"And I think that has a little bit more weight ... than just winning a medal," she added.
Rules surrounding transgender student-athletes at the high school level vary from state to state. In seven states, students must either: play on the team that matches their birth certificate; the team for which they have undergone gender reassignment surgery; or the one for which had extended hormone therapy. Medical research can't identify the line where a competitive advantage may or may not exist for trans athletes for either gender.
Despite the petitions circulating in her community, Andraya said her track and field goal is "to qualify for nationals next year in outdoor and in indoor track," adding that she has been avidly training to accomplish her goal.
Andraya said she also hopes to "inspire others," and if she could send a message to other trans youth it would be: "Just follow your heart."
Don't let other people determine what you do in life," she added.
Terry said that she believes if the roles were reversed, she would welcome a
transgender teammate even if it meant she were losing competitions.
"It would just push me to run faster," she said. "I'd be happy for them, 'cause they get to do what they want. They're happy, so then that should in turn make me happy."
Terry said she also hopes to qualify for nationals, but she also hopes to be a voice for others who are different.
"I want to speak for people," she said, "that aren't looked at normal, or are basically outed, or put in a different group because of their differences."
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