Black Transgender People Essay

Majority of transgender people will face some sort of discrimination in their lifetime whether it is through being rejected by their families, denied housing or finding employment. “Employment discrimination forces many to become involved in the street economy and in survival crime. Widespread bias and ignorance among law enforcement and other officials mean that transgender people are disproportionately subjected to arrest and, in turn, imprisonment.” (al, 2011)

In the late 1950’s to mid-1960’s, the transgender community faced discrimination such as physical and verbal harassment, denial of social spaces, and alienation in the media. This matters to us today because transgender individuals are still existing and are a part of our human population today. The community is also still struggling to find their representation in the media and in society. The transgender community is still facing a wide array of types of discrimination, from nasty looks to denied access of education. Gender identity should not be taken into consideration when determining another person’s worthiness of respect.

When discussing injustices, it is pivotal--for the sake of true progressive social change--to include all oppressed groups into the dialogue. Transgender People tend to be heavily misrepresented and demonized. Because of transphobia, there

The transgender population often have complicated medical needs and encounter numerous health disparities including discrimination, lack of access to quality health care and social stigma. Some health disparities include various chronic diseases, cancers, as well as mental health issues (Vanderbilt University, 2017). Transgender individuals are at increased risk of HIV infection with their rates being reported “over four times the national average of HIV infection, with higher rates among transgender people of color (Grant, Mottet, Tanis, 2011).” In addition, they usually do not have health insurance (Makadon, 2017) and have a lower probability of preventative cancer screenings in transgender men (AMSA, 2017).

After reading chapter 3: "Prejudice and Discriminations" and as well the article "Transgender African-Americans' Open Wound: ‘We're considered a Joke’”, I have a better understanding of the challenges that certain group undergo due to prejudices and discrimination that exist within their own racial group and other groups of our society. Although the LBGT community has made its social conditions a little more better, there is still those within their group that are even more marginalize, this is the case of a African-American transgender. African Americans transgender face twice as much prejudice and discrimination. They battle prejudice and discrimination from their own racial group and from society because of their skin color and their gender

In the hit show Orange is the new black there are lots of sexual tensions. For example one of the oscar nominated characters in the show is Laverne cox. Cox plays as an inmate in jail and she is her truth on the show which is transgender, and she is a phenomenal actress. Cox took a lot of negative talk when she first started on the show, but the show has multiple lesbian and transgender characters. Laverne Cox is an advocate speaker and goes on tours to speak to gay and transgender people. This is a positive thing to do to help some of these kids and adults realize it 's okay to be different, nothing is more important than living as your true self. Cox said in an interview, “ to love a transgender, is revolutionary.” “With more than 50% of transgender teens commit suicide before they even turn 20 it is clear that the societal inclination to generalize gender identity based on physical attributes present at birth results not only in the denial of basic human rights, but appears to be the impetus for this startling epidemic of suicide,” according to

Everyday Transgender Women of color are mistreated and repressed by society, they face constant ridicule and mistreatment. They face a constant issue of society judging them and putting them under a microscope. Societal repression is a constant issue these women face just because of their gender identity. Transgender Women of Color are one of the most least mentioned groups in society. This under shadowed group of women is struggling. They face constant abuse and repression, society is destroying these women. These women who are just like everyone else are one of the most mistreated societal groups around. They face things like mistreatment in the health field that should be helping them through one of the biggest transitions of their life.

Transgendered individuals are 25 times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population. They tend to be live in abject poverty often surviving n less than $10,00 per year household income compared to the rest of the population. They are more likely to face harassment and physical assault, with transgenders that are people of colour faring worse than all other races across the board. Many

According to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey conducted in 2011 that received responses from more than 6, 000 trans people, it was found that over half (53%) of them have claimed to have experience harassment not only at/in bathrooms, but other public accommodations as well such as hotels and restaurants and 10% of trans people have reported to have been physically attacked while at these facilities. (Tash par.1) These people are discriminated against almost every single place they travel to. No human being deserves to be treated this way as everyone is built relatively the same.

Transgenders are being categorized as being mentally ill. Though transgender counseling exists it only focuses on pathology and diagnosis. Transgenders are also severely at risk of hate crimes. In the United States alone, there are 321 transgender hate crimes per year. Transgender hate crimes can be compared to Muslims post-9/11. There’s no law to protect them from these hate crimes and nothing is ever really done to show them that they have rights too. There’s no law protecting them with employment right’s either. Due to discrimination they are vulnerable and led to no job, homelessness, suicide and even no health care. ( Anneliese A. Singh, Danica G. Hays, and Laurel S. Watson 20)

In addition to social persecution, people who identify on the LGBTQ spectrum are at a higher risk of experiencing violence In 2010, the FBI reported in a hate crime statistics report that 19.3% of hate crimes in that year were motivated by a sexual orientation bias. Based on national statistics, more than 50% of transgendered youth will attempt suicide at least once by the age of 20 “Statistics About Youth Suicide”. These numbers are shocking, and it’s baffling that these youth have to live under the pressure of violence and mental illness all while being barred from the rights they

A large issue facing trans women today is the violence perpetrated against them. In 2003, fourteen murders of trans people were recorded in the U.S, most of them being trans women and people of color. (Bettcher, p. 280) By mid-October of 2015, twenty-one trans women, who were also mostly women of color, were murdered in the United States, and this number exceeds the amount of trans murders in 2014. (Wilkinson, “You Know What Time It Is”) It is important to remember that these are only recorded instances that do not count the murders that went unreported. The amount of these murders is increasing as more years pass. This violence is rooted in the idea of trans women are seen as deceivers due to the vulva-vagina-uterus anatomy being seen as the “normal” anatomy of a woman. This is explained in Talia Mae Bettcher’s “Evil Deceivers and Make-Believers”, as she outlines the “rhetoric of deception” throughout the article. In the article, she states “frequently connected to this appearance-reality contrast is the view that genitalia are the essential determinants of sex.” (Bettcher, p.281) Because of this, trans women are put in a double-bind to either “disclose ‘who one is’ and come out as a pretender or masquerader, or refuse to disclose (be a deceiver) and run the risk of forced disclosure, the effect of which is exposure as a liar.”(Bettcher, p. 283) The normalization of this anatomy being linked to femaleness puts added pressure on trans women to “prove” themselves, or else be

Transgendered men and women face more discrimination today than gays and lesbians. Individuals in the transgender community have been murdered at alarming rates as each year passes, trans-women and men are four times more likely to commit or attempt suicide than individuals who are heterosexual, Awareness is beginning to become harder to spread nationwide as many state legislatures are calling for transgendered men and women to enter public restrooms by their designated gender.

Department of Justice published in August 2012 examined victimizations not reported to the police from the year 2006 to 2010. In 4 years, 65% of rape or sexual assault victims were not reported. Among intimate partner violence, an estimated 46% were not reported, with 62% of the suspect knows the victim (neighbor, coworker, patient, or teacher) and 60% of them are casual acquaintances. The stated reason why these crimes were not reported were because the victims were scared of reprisal or getting the suspects in trouble (Langton et al., 2012). Moving on to the LGBTQ community, an astonishing 72% of hate violence homicide victims in 2013 were transgender women. 67% of them were trans women of color (remember the hierarchal pyramid and intersectionalities?). Trans women are also 1.8x more likely to experience sexual violence and the most frustrating thing about this is that they are 6 to 7 times more likely to experience police brutality (Anti-Violence Project,

Transgender people are discriminated on an almost daily basis. They are discriminated in the workplace, as shown in a study commisioned by the Equalities Review. In a group of transgender people who have jobs and are prone to workplace-enviroment effects and opinions, “many respondents experienced harassment from co-workers and employers.” Nearly 29% of the group experience verbal abuse and harassment in the workplace enviroment, and about 4% received physical abuse. About 7% experienced threats, and about 27% experienced some sort of different treatment due to their gender non-conforming ways.(Whittle 38-39). In another study, it was found that being mistreated in the school years would have a negative effect on future outcomes relating to employment. “Those who were physically attacked in school were considerably more likely to stay in a job (64%) compared to those who were not (42%) (Grant 50).” They are also discriminated in public as well, adding on to the distress that many transgender people suffer from regularly, making it seem as if all transgender people are crazy. Transgender people are just more likely to be diagnosed as someone with a mental disorder because its helpful to see that those who have been diagnosed are “hurting and something needs to be done to help (Kreitler 1).” In