“It is part of social and legal convention in the United States to discriminate against, ridicule, and abuse transgender and gender non-conforming people within foundational institutions such as the family, schools, the workplace and health care settings, every day. Instead of recognizing that the moral failure lies in society’s unwillingness to embrace different gender identities and expressions, society blames transgender and gender non-conforming people for bringing the discrimination and violence on themselves.” - Grant, et al. Injustice at Every Turn (2011)
|
Photo from queerty.com
|
The Face of Trans Discrimination
People who fall within the trans spectrum are confronted with shocking levels of discrimination. Even though lived experience varies from person to person, a 2011 report entitled Injustice at Every Turn identified the following areas where many people who self identify as transgender face systemic barriers and discrimination in the following areas:
- Education
- Employment and Economic Security
- Housing and Homelessness
- Public Accommodations
- Receiving Updated ID Documents
- Abuse by Police and in Prison (Content warning for discussions of sexual assault)
- Health Care
Injustice at Every Turn also notes that people of color, people with disabilities, and people of lower socio-economic status who identify as transgender face disproportionate levels of discrimination and harassment.
"The average life span of a transgender person is twenty-three years."
- Trans-Formative Change: Meaghan Winter interviews Dean Spade, the first openly transgender law professor
speaks on the power of zines, the sacrifice social movements require, and the limits of legal reform.
speaks on the power of zines, the sacrifice social movements require, and the limits of legal reform.