Transgender Case Study

Attempting suicide is an epidemic in the United States; especially when 41% of transgender individuals have attempted suicide compared 1.6% of the general population (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). Due to this, the question of whether or not transgender youth have a harder, more straining adolescence than their cisgender counterparts rises. Although adolescence can be hard on everyone, experiences such as a school environment, puberty, laws that guarantee protection, family and social acceptance of transgender youth are harder than those of their cisgender counterparts (harder does not necessarily mean correlate with strenuous, the use of harder is aiming more towards different, costly, and possibly more confusing). The revolution for transgender lives is just beginning, change is happening. But in order for change to occur, adequate information on the material needs to be discussed and terminology must be defined and questions must be answered. Questions such as: what do the terms transgender and cisgender actually mean? Why is it important to know the difference between the two terms? What is the difference between transsexual and transgender?

The mental health of individuals in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community is something that is a serious problem. For most of the history of the United States and many different parts of the world LGBT people faced much persecution and in some cases even death. This constant fear of discovery and the pressure that one feels on oneself when “in the closet” can lead to major mental distress. Research has shown that people who identify as LGBT are twice as likely to develop lifetime mood and anxiety disorders (Bostwick 468). This is extremely noticeable the past couple years in the suicides of bullied teens on the basis of sexual identity and expression. The stigma on simply being perceived as LGBT is strong enough to

Regarding access to healthcare, transgender individuals often face the most obstructive barriers when attempting to receive care. Whether they are seeking access to hormones, therapy, general health services, reproductive healthcare, or specialty healthcare, transgender patients typically cannot get what they need without jumping through many hoops or hiding their identities. This occurs especially so in cases of intersecting identities -- where an individual is not just transgender, but is transgender and a person of color, disabled, gay, indigenous, undocumented, poor, etc. These intersecting identities interact in multifaceted ways to produce even more barriers for trans individuals seeking healthcare due to healthcare provider bias, insurance requirements, and doctors’ general unwillingness to help coupled with inaccessibility founded on racism, transphobia, homophobia, mental illness stigmatization, etc.

LGBTQ adolescents, also called sexual minority youth, have a higher risk of developing mental and emotional problems than heterosexual youth, and also face more bullying, harassment, and victimization due to homophobia (Craig, Austin, & McInroy, 2014). In order to address their needs, the researchers used group therapy that was based on

This is in direct correlation with the increased probability of mental illnesses in the transgender population. Traditional views certainly do not help as many transgender citizens are told they are “sick” because of their difference with many religious and personal beliefs. A study from Boston published earlier this year in the Journal of Adolescent Health, reported that transsexual youth had two to three times increased risk of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety disorder, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, self-harm without lethal intent, and both inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment. These statistics show the clear consequences of mental health transgenders are facing if transgender rights continues to be unregulated. It is essential that the federal government steps in to take action in order to make sure things do not continue on this downwards path.

Many services are available that can positively impact protective factors, however, barriers to these services exist for LGBTQ youth; particularly transgender youth (Mathematica Policy Research, 2014). The barriers to providing services to LGBTQ homeless youth are twofold. First, LGBTQ youth are not always open to accepting services for a variety of reasons. Stigma, discrimination, and victimization are factors that impact the willingness of LGBT homeless youth to utilize services, especially homeless shelters; as is prior rejection at home and school (Hunter, 2008; Whitbeck, Chen, Hoyt, Tyler & Johnson, 2004). It is important to consider that many LGBT homeless youth have previously been in the foster care system and have reported that abuse

The Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Transgendered (LGBT) youth population is one of the most vulnerable groups in our community. Being gay does not lead to risky behaviors or bad decision making, rather, societal stigma and discrimination can lead LGBT youth to seek emotional outlets. Today’s society has improved immensely towards the LGBT community, although it has not always been this way. Society can affect a person in shocking ways, influencing one’s unhealthy and unsafe physical and mental behaviors. This current vulnerable population deserves a voice and the simplicity of someone listening to them in order for both sides, accepting and non-accepting, to find a common ground and settle the violence.

The United States is a divided society. We like to categorize ourselves according to political affiliation, race, and religion. We are members of the middle, low-income, or wealthy classes. We choose what seats to sit in during a football game according to the team we are rooting for. It is oddly comforting to know that you belong. All too often, however, transgender youth are denied that sense of ubelonging because they defy society’s categories of male and female. The gender binary divides society into two separate, unequivocal categories that marginalizes transgender youth and directly impacts their emotional health and well-being. Society’s collective response of demeaning, shaming, and violence further increases the divide.

Victimization of LGBT community members is elevating as time passes. Researchers attempt to determine the prevalence of the violence committed against members of the LGBT community (Rothman, Exner, & Baughman, 2011). Many people that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender that are victims of hate crimes have participated in studies where they insist that the crimes committed against them are based on their sexuality; not class, color, gender, or any other factor. In a qualitative study, Meyer (2009) conducted open-ended interviews with people who were victims of hate crimes. The participants were recruited at LGBT advocacy organizations. Those who presumed that their hate crime was due to multiple systems of oppression such as class,

Most LGBT youth become happy with who they are which gives them room to thrive during their adolescent years. Attending a school that has a safe and comfortable environment for every student is especially important. Positive environments can help all youth achieve good grades and maintain good mental and physical health. However, some youths are more likely than their straight peers to experience bad health and life outcomes. Experiences with violence, compared to other students, come easy to LGBT individuals that can cause increased risks for unfortunate circumstances.‘Violence’ includes behaviors such as teasing, harassment, and physical assault. It is important that students at risk have access to resources and support to deal with any questions or challenges they may have or face as they mature. Surveyed LGBT students reported 10% were threatened or injured, 34% were bullied, and 28% were bullied electronically.

The purpose of this study was to prove how minority stress correlates with mental health within the transgender community. As defined by Meriam-Webster Dictionary, transgender “is relating to, or being a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person 's sex at birth” (Merriam-Webster, 2016). For example, male to female, or female to male. However, researchers in this study used the minority stress model, which suggested that the stress associated with stigma, prejudice, and discrimination will increase rates of psychological distress in the transgender population (Bockting, Miner…& Coleman, 2013). As evident from past research, physical violence, verbal harassment and employment discriminations were some of the many types of societal prejudices. In fact, as seen in the article, these stresses create depression, anxiety, and other types of mental illness within the transgender community. However, researcher’s goals were to see exactly how these different variables increased levels of stress. For example, was there negative types of stigma that were less or more server, and what could help to alleviate stress?

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning individuals are almost 3 times more likely than others to experience a mental health condition such as major depression or generalized anxiety disorder (National Alliance on Mental Illness). That is around 55% of LGBTQ people who will develop a mental illness. While some mental illnesses can be genetic, prejudice and stigma have created a higher rate of mental illness in LGBTQ youth because mental illnesses and disorders develop due to prejudice resulting in hate crimes, the stigma of mental health, and the homophobia and transphobia in the United States - all of which that efforts to change are slowly being implemented in schools and homes around the nation. Prejudice and hate crimes such as sexual assault, murder, and torture are not something uncommon for LGBTQ people to experience. For instance, in 2016, 27 transgender people reported to have been murdered, that is more than two people murdered a month (Schmider). However, we can trace it back to much earlier than that.

Within families, homophobia can appear in the forms of verbal abuse, physical threats, or physical attack. In a survey of GLBT teens in Rhode Island, 58 per cent of GLBT females reported experiencing these three types of victimization committed by their mothers, 34 per cent by their fathers, 24 per cent by their brothers, and 15 per cent by their sisters. In the same survey, GLBT males accounted 30 per cent victimization by their mothers, 23 per cent by their fathers, 43 per cent by brothers, and 15 per cent by their sisters. The most significant predictors identified as a risk factor of GLBT teen suicide is negative family interactions (Quinn, 2002).

Marginalization may also be the explanation for the high risk of self-harm in gay, bisexual, transsexual teenagers who are 2 to 3 times more likely to self-harm than heterosexual young people, this groups results in regular absenteeism at school due to homophobic harassment. 50% of those reported bullied at school had contemplated self-harm, 40% of those had self-harmed at least once. A survey in 2000 to 2002 interviewed 2,430 lesbian women, gay men and bisexual men and women in England and Wales and concluded that there is a greater link between discrimination and mental health issues. (Truth Hurts, Mental Health Foundation 2006).

School Bullying, violence against LGBT youth linked to risk of suicide, HIV infection. (2011, June 2) Women’s Health Weekly, 138. Retrieved from