Transgender In America

Did you know that more than 50% of transgender minors have admitted to attempting suicide? How about that 82% of transgender youth feel unsafe or scared at school? These statistics are high, too high. Transgender is defined as of, 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, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary. Years ago it was considered bad to be transgender, but our society has become more open-minded, leading to the coming outs of many more transgender minors. However, while it seems as though we are more open-minded, transgender youth are still being mistreated, to a point where suicide sometimes seems like the only good

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).

When people want to be theirself, doesn 't everyone deserve that chance at that much freedom? According to the national LGBTQ Task Force transgender people are not that lucky when it comes to the demographics of social media. On CNN website there 's an article that discusses how transgender people are twice as likely to be unemployed and four times more likely to live in poverty compared with the general population and these disparities are much greater for transgender black and latina woman said Emanuela Grinberg writer for CNN.

The country of America was founded on the idea that every person should be treated equal and have the opportunity to live a happy, successful life. Therefore, it is important that Americans educate themselves on the proper terms to use when discussing the LGBTQ community. No one should feel threatened or offended because of improper vocabulary, and I feel that our country would be a better place if more people took the time to educate themselves on how to treat every American with respect, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. I also believe that discussions about LGBTQ demographics could benefit our entire country. Discussing the reality and facts about demographics will allow Americans to become more aware of the gender

Humans have established their own rights in society for many, many years now. However, because some humans differ from the norms that are built in society, they are shunned and denied their rights until they conform to society’s norms. There has been numerous groups of people who have been denied their rights in America. African Americans, immigrants, Native Americans, and gays have been isolated simply because that is the way that they were born into this world and others do not find them “normal”. There is another group that has also been mistreated though; people who identify themselves as transgendered. A good portion of society is unknowingly misinformed about these kinds of people.

People tend to look passed the ones whom this debate affects. A survey was taken of over 2,000 transgender college students on the effects of the bathroom debate. This survey showed that the suicide attempt rate "increased 40% among those who said they had been denied access to a bathroom" (Scherer et al n.p.). People who are not considered normal by societal standards may have a hard time coping with the hate they receive. This hate can lead to extremes such as the attempt to commit suicide. The allowance or denial of access to a bathroom led to an increase in suicide attempt rates. Those not affected by the issue do not realize the emotional and physical hardship that transgender people go through. In Washington, D.C., a survey of 100 transgender people was taken. In this survey, "70% said they had been denied restroom access or harassed, and 58% said they has avoided going out in public because they feared being able to find a bathroom" (Scherer et al n.p.). The accommodations of both sides of the debate would allow everyone to feel safer in his or her own community. Family restrooms allow complete privacy and do not discrimination based on gender. Access to these types of facilities would never be denied. Allowing people access to the bathroom they choose opened an entire new side of the issue in

Legal discrimination is alive and well in the United States. All over the country, groups of people are being forced into situations that are converse to the very nature of their being, subject to extreme violence and hatred. The very narrow minded view of how the country sees sex and gender, as exhibited by the media, is causing immense harm to many American citizens, as the idea of a binary gender system and long-standing sexist views has contributed to the segregation of bathrooms under the thin veil of protection. Bathroom facilities should no longer be segregated by gender to prevent transgender-based discrimination, therefore decreasing the prominence of depression associated with transgender people because a binary view of gender is flawed.

LGBTQ+ representation and rights have recently become a large epidemic in America, and some parts of Europe. Since the new millennium, the world has become more and more accepting. In 2005 gay marriage became legal in Canada, In 2008 the United States elected their first black president, in 2015 gay marriage became legal in the U.S, and so much more happened within the past 17 years of this new millennium. All of this shows how far we have come since the early 1900’s. This epidemic has intrigued not only LGBTQ+ people, but non LGBTQ+ people as well. In this essay, the following two questions will be answered; Does equality for LGBTQ+ and non LGBTQ+ people exist today in Canada? and, How far have we come? These questions will be answered by

Transgender people face a much higher suicide risk in contrast to gender conforming men and women in this world. 41% of transgender people that were surveyed at Injustice at Every Turn, a national social justice organization dedicated to resolving discrimination and brutality against transgender people, said that they have attempted suicide in contrast to the 1.6% of the general population who have not. (“2011 National Transgender Discrimination Survey Report”) Caitlyn Jenner expressed her emotions regarding the transgender community and the struggles facing the 700,000 people in just the United States alone, who recognize themselves as transgender. Caitlyn Jenner was born as Bruce Jenner in 1949, but has been transitioning since the 1980s.

Many parents show concern for their children that use public restrooms. Citizens are worried for their children that may be preyed upon by transgender men and women within a public restroom setting. Most males that are against transgenders using public restrooms, are concerned with their wives and daughters that they cannot protect once they have entered the female restroom. In Transgender Students and Bathrooms many issues are mentioned about the problems with having transgender citizens use the restroom of the gender they associate with. “Some communities that are against having transgender students use bathrooms where they feel uncomfortable or unaccepted of transgenderism tend to have tried to persuade schools to have transgender students use the restroom that correspond with their biological

The transgender community makes up a controversial, growing culture in America. Promoting the idea of tolerance, self-love and acceptance, the Transgender community helps support a community that is statistically not commonly received well by the American people of 2015. Many view this uprising as a positive, revolutionary movement that aims to not only help the minority groups of America but progress mindset of all people from potentially

Gender dysphoria is one of the characterizing aspects of being transgender, and while not all transgender people experience this, for those who do mental health often suffers; for this reason many consider medical treatment necessary to improve their well-being. Gender dysphoria, as described by the DSM-5, “manifests in a variety of ways, including strong desires to be treated as the other gender or to be rid of one’s sex characteristics” (Kupfer). It’s often accompanied with distress, which can lead to depression, anxiety, self-harm, or suicidal thoughts. In fact, suicide is all too common in transgender people. A survey of over 6,000 transgender people done in 2010 found that 41% had attempted suicide at some point in their lives (Grant 82). This high number is a trend that continues to be reflected in other surveys, such as one in

Coming out as a transgender, identifying with a gender expression that differs from the assigned sex, has proven to be quite difficult through the ages. While the acceptance of transgender people has grown significantly higher throughout the years, people’s stance on them are still quite divided, and the uphill battle for transgender rights has proven this. Just giving transgenders the right to simply go to the bathroom they identify with has shown to be controversial according to the TIME cover Battle of the Bathroom. The TIME magazine makes sure to note the problem defiantly “far more than public facilities” (Scherer par. 9). Transgender rights are a problem that Jamison Green, president for World Professional Association for Transgender Health, thoroughly addresses in a report written by Alan Greenblatt for CQ Researcher. Jamison Green’s specific purpose in that report is to justify why transgender people deserve basic human rights like everybody else, as shown in society, through his use of facts, qualifiers, figurative language, counterarguments, and appeals to logic and values.

On December 28, 2014 Leelah Alcorn, a transgender student, committed suicide after being rejected by her Christian parents and peers. Her parents’ beliefs prevented her from transitioning from a male-to-female, and constricted her from acting among her wishes as a transgender person by sending her to conversion therapy. Although it was a rash decision for her to take away her life in order to obtain rights for the LGBT community as a whole, there are many cases like Leelah’s that continue as of today because transgender people do not feel comfortable in a transphobic society. A large controversy concerning this issue is the bathroom policy which consists if a person should have the right to go to a restroom that they feel like they belong, not concerning their sex assigned at birth. However, this bathroom controversy is not the only thing that Leelah Alcorn or many others died for. Leelah wanted to defy society’s beliefs against their bigotry against transgenderism.

As our world develops gradually, we are to the point in time to see new serious disagreements and formal discussions surface, one of these being the issue of whether transgender individuals should be allowed to use the bathroom of the gender they identify themselves as. While many are at an unpleasant emotion, caused by the belief of the risk of sexual violence in bathrooms, or fail to acknowledge transgender individuals as the gender they identify, there is something to be said about this issue, transgender individuals should be allowed to use the bathroom of their choice.