His mother holds up another dress, remarking on how cute it is and handing it to him to try on. She ignores the uncomfortable look on his face and tells him to hurry up. He sits in the dressing room in silence, looking at himself in the mirror, the dress hanging on a hook beside him. He furrows his brows, covers his chest with his arms, and stares at the face looking back at him. It doesn’t look right, he thinks, trying not to cry. All his life he had been called “she” and “girl” and it never felt right. No one told him it was okay to feel this way when he brought it up, instead yelling at him, telling him he was just confused. It made him sick, pretending to be a girl, but no one listened or cared. Due to the many misconceptions about them, transgender people face harmful discrimination, whether being told their feelings are invalid, that there is no such thing, or being killed for who they are. Identifying as a gender other than the one you are assigned at birth is seen as unnatural in a world ruled by a rigid gender binary, so understanding transgender people’s experiences is necessary for a safe life for them. Some protections are already available to transgender people, though paltry: Only “15 [states] and the District of Columbia have laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity/expression” (“Knowledge Center”). Additionally, seven state governors have put orders into effect that ban the discrimination of state workers on the basis of them being
Transgender issues cover a a multitude of spheres: discrimination (at school, in the workplace, when looking for housing), violence, suicide, and identification through legal documents to name a few. Transgender individuals deal with greater struggles than that of cisgender individuals, or those who identity as the gender which they were assigned at birth. Perhaps one of the greatest struggles transgender individuals have to deal with is acceptance, whether it be acceptance from others or acceptance of themselves. Cisgender individuals, or those who identify with the gender identity given at birth, do not have to worry that their gender identity will be accepted; society has already dictated it to be ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’ (“Definitions of Terms”). Trans individuals are not afforded this luxury.
Imagine, you go to work in your dress shoes, black suit, buzz-cut hair, red power tie, and nobody pays you a second look. But, the second you get home, you kick off your shoes, and don high-heels, the suit is replaced with a dress, your short wig is taken off, and you let your long curls fall, and your tie is in the closet, with a necklace in its place. Such hiding of true feelings is not an unheard concept in the transgender world. Millions of transgender people will never express their true feelings in their lifetime. This is similar to The Intruder by Andre Dubus, Kenneth Girard a
According to Michael Bronski’s, Ann Pellegrini’s and Michael Amico’s book “You Can Tell Just by Looking” federal anti-discrimination laws do not protect trans-gendered people or other LGBT members. Transgendered people can lose their jobs just because of their gender identity in 34 of the 50 states. According to the APA, the National Gay and Lesbian Task force did a study that a vast majority of the 6500 hundred surveyed
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.
Have you or anyone close to you ever been discriminated before? Multiple types of gender discrimination has always been an issue and it’s time for it all to come to an end. Gender discrimination is discrimination that is based on someone’s gender or sex. Many people have faced it in different ways. I am researching the harm that is caused to different genders, the way women don’t get paid the same as men, and how LGBT people are discriminated in the workplace.
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)
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)
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
Throughout the years, the LGBT community has put forth tremendous effort to gain rights and recognition in the United States. Yet there have been numerous laws that have discriminated and made them feel unequal. LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered. Many people in the community have a hard time accepting who they truly are in terms of sexual orientation or gender identity. Coming out is challenging enough on its own, and laws and regulations that discriminate against those who only wish to live freely can make it hard for them to do so. Living in the time period we do, we have seen many changes in the right direction as far as having equal rights for all, but it has not always been this way. There have been many movements and actions the LGBT community has taken over the years to get to where we are today. There have also been many laws and regulations specifically targeted at same-sex and transgendered individuals, some of which that still apply today.
All the articles stated in the annotated bibliography, each of these articles give a background on transgender community, and what a member of a transgender community go through. Moreover, these articles also give a set of exhibits on transgender discrimination, an argument for the transgender discrimination and a method showing the different type of surveys that showed the evidences of transgender discrimination. These articles can give a more detailed information about what type of discrimination the members of transgender community go through either during the hiring process, or while they are or were employed at the place of employment. Additionally, these articles discussed different criticism and reaction good and bad toward people of
Transgender Discrimination and Their Effects in a Societal Group Perspective, and the Implications on the Affected Groups
Discrimination is the root of the limitations that transgender individuals have. There have been recent issues in public bathrooms within that past couple of years. There was a lot of controversy over the idea of a transgender man or woman using their preferred restroom. People were concerned about the potential of rape, and other crimes which in my opinion is ironic because someone who is transgender has to worry about this daily just because they are who they are and people do not agree with it. In fact, the Williams Institute completed a study focusing on transgender people in Washington DC. They
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
The United States and England are two of the most modernized countries in the world and share several similarities, one of which being that the justice systems of both countries play their role in the victimization of transgender inmates. Vicky Thompson was a transgender woman, who was sentenced to 12 months in an all male facility in Leeds, England. Within the third month of her sentence, Thompson committed suicide after her lawyer was unable to get the justice system to recognize Thompson as a woman (Kale, 2015). Furthermore, in the United Kingdom, transgender people are required to apply for a gender recognition certificate in order to have their legal gender, which is stated on their birth certificate, changed to the gender which they
The third topic is homophobic think the things that matter is sexual orientation because I feel like this country is very against people’s sexual orientation. I can say that I am not a homophobic because I think if you love someone whether it is the same sex as you or the opposite sex from you should be able to love them without being discriminated. Many people in the world may be against gays, lesbians, and transgender because they are uncomfortable and are not educated enough. I know for a fact that I unaware of the transgender community, I am not against them in any way I just do not understand it nor I am educated enough on it. So when people ask me about transgender I found it strange because I never experience it or seen a transgender