The Murder Of Gwen Amber Rose Araujo

Being accepted as a transgender in today's society is not only a continued struggle but it has also become another defining statistic that continue to raise hate crime rates nationwide. The excitement and bold move granted by the government to pass a law that allowed individuals of the same sex to be married appeared to break through needed to secure gay and lesbians place in the world. With this life changing event, the hinges on the revolving door appeared to strong enough for the LGBT(Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender) to conquer another hidden secret; life as a transgender.

There has been increased support for those who identify within the LGBTQIA community, yet the transgender community itself tends to be marginalized. “The available evidence from U.S. adult samples suggests that transgender people face widespread prejudice and discrimination and may be at heightened risk for violence because of their gender identities and expressions” (Norton & Herek, 2013, p. 738).

In 2013, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs conducted a report showing that “72 percent of the victims of LGBTQ or HIV-motivated hate violence homicides in 2013 were transgender women, and 67 percent were transgender women of color” (HRC 3). The report clearly shows that transgender citizens are being targeted with the most violence towards them out of all the LGBT community. To make matters even worse, the colored transgender women received most of the violence which is another social injustice in itself. In addition to this discrimination, “The NTDS found that 22 percent of transgender people who had interacted with police experienced bias-based harassment from the police, with transgender people of color reporting much higher rates” (HRC 4). This data is the definition of social injustice as it demonstrates the police discriminating a certain group of people, in this case, the transgender citizens. If the law enforcement is harassing the transgender people, especially the colored ones, then it amplifies the case that there is discrimination in our community. To conclude, members part of the transgender community are being targeted by discrimination the most out the of LGBT community and even the law enforcement is

To start with, Fields explains what transgender really means. There are two terms which are sex and gender. When it comes to the definition of sex, it is determined by biology such as hormones and anatomy. On the other hands, as to a person’s gender, it is more like the inner feeling of being male or female. Therefore, transgender would claim that their gender and sex are in discord somehow. He also states some of the misperceptions in the light of the issue of transgender. Many assume that transgender are someone who might have different

The transgender community continue to battle the acknowledgment of independent identity within society. The ongoing problem has been the continued gender crisis with mistaken the identity of transgender as the same as gay or lesbian sexuality. Gay is a term commonly used to refer to homosexuals, but transgender is the state in which a person’s gender identity does not match with his/her physical sex (Gay Couple Fertility Care, 2015, p. 1)". Transgender people may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, or asexual. It does not imply to any specific form of sexual orientation (Gay Couple Fertility Care, 2015, p. 1)".

This is the first time that a president has said the word “transgender” in the State of the Union address. These words were not said by any accident and should not be taken lightly. All the cases he named are actually some of the most widely discriminated groups of people in the country, as well as the world. The group i’d like to analyse is that of the transgender community. I myself as well as people who are dear to me do not identify with the socially “correct” understanding of gender or sexuality. August 14th of this year marks the 15th murder of a trans individual, an all time high. (Time) Subsequently, I’ve witnessed hate, and I now hope to have a clearer understanding through a sociological analysis. Using the theories and tools of thought I will explore discriminatory actions taken against them, how these actions affect their standards of living and even their personal health. Understanding this, then I’d like to speak on what we as a first world are repairing these issue in comparison to other nations.

There is a minority in the United States whose troubles, although many in number and increasingly difficult, are hardly acknowledged. The Transgender community, often even ignored by the LGBT community itself, has to face much adversity almost everywhere they go. Probably the most commonly used argument against transgender people as a whole comes from people who have not yet grasped the fact that there is a difference between gender and sex. In her article The Case For Gender Anarchy Elizabeth Nolan Brown puts it in a way both concise and accurate. She says, “Sex says men on average have lower levels of good cholesterol than women do; gender says they should be good at working with their hands and hate romantic comedies” (Nolan Brown, 5). This makes it easier to visualize how sex is biological while gender is merely social/mental. Regardless, due to this misunderstanding and other downright prejudice, many transgender people face unbearable amounts of discrimination every single day. One of the most common places this discrimination occurs is in a place that is essential to every person’s life. Someone can spend up to eight hours there and primarily live off what they make there. This is, of course, the workplace. It is of the utmost importance for others to realize that this is an issue, to realize why this is an issue, and to do something to fix this situation.

American legislative and state laws, which infer sexual orientation, are composed on the rule that there are two genders: male or female. Be that as it may, with transgender individuals living in our nation, these laws ignore a huge bit of society; Where do men and ladies rolling out an improvement starting with one sex then onto the next fit into our legitimate codes? The transgender group is, best-case scenario, saw as a counterculture and even from a pessimistic standpoint, is marked as an unnatural and degenerate decision. These negative marks of shame can have a capable negative impact on the mental, physical and passionate strength of the individuals who are a part of this group. Not just does the exchange from man to woman/woman to man

According to psmag.com, “Transgender is a term that has been widely used to describe gender-non-conforming individuals since the 1980s, but one that a third of Americans still can’t define”. Nearly 700,000 people are living publicly as transgender. A person’s gender identity is a person’s sense of if they are a man or a woman. For transgender people, the sex they were assigned when they were born does not match their gender identity.

For example, when a person is not empowered and suffers housing discrimination, they may consequently end up working as prostitutes and living in deplorable conditions as they strive to meet their basic needs (Stryker, 2013). Stryker (2013) goes on to describe the discrimination transgender people faced at the hands of police, specifically in the 1960’s. Not only were transgendered women humiliated, but they were also sexually exploited, raped, and murdered while being held in men’s jails. Additionally, Serano (2013) recognizes males to female (MTF) transgender people rank higher on the spectrum for discriminations and ridicule. Societies norms imply it is okay for women to wear men’s clothing, but not for men to wear women’s clothing. In a male dominated society, it seems inconceivable to many that a male would want to give up his male privilege to live as a female (Serano, 2013). In my own personal experiences, I have seen this to be true to an extent. Many females I know do not dress feminine, but when their dress and mannerism cross over into “too maleish”, I believe they do often experience discrimination referred to as trans-misogyny. On the other hand, I do believe Serano’s (2013)

Gender identity is an unfamiliar and confusing concept to many people. Until recently, Americans have been taught and conditioned to believe that one’s anatomy and genetics are what determines one’s gender. Acting or dressing like the other gender was considered disgusting and taboo, and people who claimed to be transgender were thought of as severely mentally ill. Some would even confuse gender identity with sexual orientation; like believing that all transgender people are gay. However, now that the LGBT community is gaining more popularity and momentum than ever before, these individuals are slowly but surely becoming more understood and treated equally, as the idea of gender identity uncertainty and exploration is becoming more widely accepted. Americans are finally opening their eyes and ears so to be educated about these misunderstood and mistreated people. Has this been effective? Before that question can be answered, one must understand the terminology behind the discussion.

Following the gay and lesbian rights movements of the latter half of the 20th century many new discourses highlighting gender dynamics have emerged. One of the most contemporary gender identities to reappear in mainstream culture is transgender. Unfortunately, following these rights movements during the 1990s, the term transgender became an umbrella term for all people not fitting within a cisgender, binary identity as prescribed by their at-birth biological sex. Two of the terms which were bundled into the ‘transgender’ identity is genderqueer and non-binary identities. These people either find their identities to fall outside of the gender binary system. Some of them identify as neither male nor female, some identify as different genders at different times, some identify as both genders at the same time, and others identify as having no gender at all.

Imagine being trapped in a body that does not correspond to who you are. As a man, I struggle to grasp the desperation I would feel I were to wake up every day in a woman’s body. Yet, that is exactly the predicament that transgendered women and men find themselves in, and it is worth noting, through no fault of their own. In addition to the internal struggle, for years, transgendered people have also had to fight society for acceptance. Although the progress made thus far, this essay proposes that the transgender experience continues to be horrific in the United States due to lack of acceptance, discrimination, and violence against transgender people.

Members of the LGBT community have battled with societal norms since the beginning of its emergence. Here the focus will be specifically geared to the transgender members of the community. Vocabulary around the issue has changed over time as well as the meanings and connotations. Through history there have been may terms associated with gender nonconformity: 1) Transvestite: first used in 1910 to describe a person who dresses in clothing of the opposite sex, traditionally associated as men. 2) Transsexual: fist used in 1946, refers to a person who lives life as a gender different than their sex assigned at birth. 3) Transgender (Trans): first used in 1971 and is the current terminology preferred by the community. It is functions as an ‘umbrella term’ that encompasses those who identify as a gender different from their biology and includes people who may or may not undergo sexual reassignment surgery or hormone therapy (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual Resource Center,2017; Whittle,2010). Portrayal and perception of transgender persons has long been a controversial issue. Knowledge of its history and development will offer greater insight to the present-day issues and their effect on society and the LGBT community. With that information, we can apply proper techniques for social workers when dealing with transgender men and women.

In the past five years some in the queer community have received more social acceptance and legal rights, while others intrigue, confuse, yet outrage our society at large. We have seen the slow rise of acceptance of gay people and the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, however, transgender individuals find themselves demonized and demoralized in a debate over which bathroom is acceptable for them to use in public places. Many transgender people do not have equal opportunities, are rejected by mainstream society, and are not even safe in their own communities. Mandi Camille Hauwert’s article in the Huffington Post presents an argument on how a transgender person must conform to the societal focus on rigid cisgender standards or they are deemed less worthy, face backlash, discrimination or even danger (Hauwert). Gender is socially constructed, in our society one is expected to be a man or woman, leaving little room for the diverse expressions that may be found on a spectrum that falls in the middle. I agree with Hauwert; the focus on heteronormative, cisgender, binary definitions is harmful and