Transgender Inequality : Human Dignity.that Is Why We Defend Free Speech, And Advocate For Political Prisoners

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

Transgendered people in America have made many great strides since the 1990s. They have encountered violence, lack of health care, and the loss of homes, jobs, family and friends. There have been many phases of the struggle of being transgendered in America over the years. The current phase we must be in now is equal rights. There are many variations of discrimination against the transgendered community. In our society we simply do not like what we do not understand. It is easier to discriminate than to try and understand. We are all created different and we should appreciate our differences. The change must come by addressing the views of the public. There is much justification in the unequal rights of transgendered peoples. The Human

Americans are still divided on transgender rights and identity. In a new study from Pew Research Center, 46% of respondents said transgender said transgender people should be required presumably by law, to “use the public restroom of the gender they were born with”, 51% of those surveyed said the opposite- that transgender people should be able to use the bathroom, of their choice. Forcing people to use the bathroom that they were born with can be humiliating, and that’s why we need to come together and have gender neutral bathrooms.

1.4 million adults identify as transgender and 1 in every 137 teenagers identify as transgender. I believe that more laws are needed to protect the rights of transgender people. I believe this because Transgender people say hostility, and ignorance is common in doctors offices, emergency rooms, also many transgender people are labeled as perverts in public bathrooms/locker rooms. And transgender people have to deal every day with discrimination. I asked a lot of my friends that if they believe transgender people should have more laws and almost every single one said no, but I asked my transgender friend if he believes there should be more laws to protect the rights of transgender people and he said yes. He told me that even some teachers at school treated him differently because of his gender identified and has had many teachers refuse to refer to him as a boy.

Kidd and Witten define the term transgender vaguely, stating it “describe[s] people who transcend the conventional boundaries of gender, irrespective of physical status or sexual orientation” (Kidd & Witten, 2007, p. 36). This term is a reference for the ‘other gender’ that is not particularly male or female. Currently, within the American society, there is a growing awareness of individuals who are transgender. Much of this awareness comes from LGBT movements and

Oppression is prolonged unjust and cruel treatment. The LGBT community has faced oppression for a very long time. Transgender individuals face oppression in a different way and are often overlooked by LGBT groups because they are finding themselves in a different way. Transgender people are treated cruel and even murdered because of their choices and decisions. These individuals are facing oppression based on themselves but also in ways such as poverty. With discrimination comes the difficulty to keep a job and a safe work environment. This group is one of the main groups forgotten about and misunderstood. Instead of facing oppression for one reason these individuals face cruel treatment just walking down the street. It is impossible

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)

Americans are often seen as a beacon of freedom but are the people truly free? The citizens of America are entitled to their rights, such as freedom of speech and freedom of choice but when it comes to their sexuality or gender identity, their freedoms are limited whether by law or by a person’s opinion. Although there are rights that are law, it does not mean the people would obey the laws accordingly. Discrimination and harassment against transgender and people of a different sexuality is common among people under the age of 25. Studies shows that about 49 percent of transgender people under the age of 25 have attempted suicide because they were harassed (Ford). Transgender people are allowed the same basic rights as other citizens, but

Discrimination has been a problem for many years, from the slaving of African Americans dating back to 1619, to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) individuals being shot in the streets a few weeks ago. However one specific group of people, transgendered people have been targeted for decades, yet they haven’t had the mass media coverage as other discrimination issues have. Focusing on their physical abuse, and psychological impact and the substance abuse from the discrimination they face; I hope to highlight these issues and show that they need help fighting this discrimination as well, and this isn’t just an individual problem but the bigger society’s issue.

While discrimination is pervasive for the majority of transgender people, the intersection of anti-transgender bias and persistent, structural racism is especially severe. People of color in general fare worse than White transgender people, with African American transgender individuals faring far worse than all other transgender populations. Many transgender people are also the targets of hate crimes. They are also the victims of subtle discrimination—which includes everything from glances or glares of disapproval or discomfort to invasive questions about their body parts (Bassichi, Lee, & Spade, 2011). Discrimination laws and hate crimes laws encourage us to understand oppression as something that happens when individuals use bias to deny

A REPORT OF THE NATIONAL TRANSGENDER DISCRIMINATION SURVEY” which is a comprehensive survey taken by over 7,500 respondents a part of the LGBT community to discuss their experiences of discrimination that will further encourage the implementation of better protection towards gender variants. Authors concluded the:

Unfortunately, transgender individuals have experienced many discriminating occurrences throughout time and presently. President of the United States, Barack Obama and his administration have made many strides to improve the future of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Americans. Their focus has been to commit to reducing inequality, discrimination, and engaging with LGBT communities across the U.S. (The White House, n.d.). Although positive changes have transpired since President Obama came into

With the recent Supreme Court ruling on June 26th concerning gay marriage the LGBT community won a long and hard-fought victory after many tiring years of effort. However, as John Oliver so adeptly points out, the fight for full equality still rages on. Oliver dedicated his main segment of his show on Sunday to addressing the issue of transgender rights. This issue concerns a number of facets for transgender people, such as being bullied at school and having a fairly alarming rate of attempted suicide at 41%. As Oliver points out during his segment, this is a civil rights issue, and it will require a deep examination of this country’s values and the way in which we view transgendered people if we truly wish to change our attitudes towards them. Although the arguments for why this matter is a “personal problem”

Within the past couple of years, LGBT issues have been showing up more in our daily lives than ever before. Taking a closer look at the T in LGBT, there have been stories and articles about transgender individuals and this has triggered a large variety of emotions and opinions from people all over the world. Someone who is transgender is an individual who identifies as a gender that does not match the gender that is assigned to him or her at birth. One of the biggest stories that brought transgender individuals into the mainstream spotlight was the announcement that Bruce Jenner, an Olympic gold metal winner, is trans gender. This was broadcast to millions of people as he told his story in an emotional interview with Diane Sawyer. Laverne Cox, a transgender woman, has had a predominant role in the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black” for the past 3 seasons and has also helped spread awareness about the trans community. With all of these stories being seen by more and more people, there have been some that haven’t been very accepting of the transgender community. Transphobia can lead to aggression towards trans individuals, causing abuse that may cause physical and emotional damage. Trans individuals are being policed by not only society, but also by institutions.

The social issue that I chose which affects society today is transgender inequality. These issues are more recently gaining attention and becoming a prevalent topic of inequality within our country. A transgender person is someone whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. As more and more transgender people share their stories in the media, the social problems that arise from these stories are discrimination within their everyday lives. They suffer from scrutiny and judgment from their peers, and thus many hide their gender identity from family and society. This social injustice can be as simple as a glance or staring, or offensive comments and questions to violent hate crimes. Transgender people are prone to violence and harassment, and often not feeling safe in any aspect of society. They are fired from jobs, denied medical insurance, and being murdered left and right solely for being transgender. “A staggering 41% of respondents reported attempting suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population, with rates rising for those who lost a job due to bias (55%), were harassed/bullied in school (51%), had low household income, or were the victim of physical assault (61%) or sexual assault (64%)” (National Center for Transgender Equality). The structure of this paper will consist of adding all the research that was gathered over the semester, news articles and peer