Last week the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) and the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) released a comprehensive report at the National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change gathering held in Minneapolis, Minn. It was the first large-scale national study that focused on discrimination among transgender and gender non-conforming people covering a wide range of issues including safety, education, healthcare, employment and housing.
To explain the details of the report both organizations held a conference call with members of the media and other interested parties. It was facilitated by Cathy Renna of Renna Communications.
Renna introduced Lisa Mottet, J.D.—one of the report's three authors and also NGLTF's transgender civil rights project director—who explained the methodology of the study. It lasted six months (from September 2008 to February 2009) and included 6,456 participants who submitted paper or online questionnaires from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Next up was another author of the study Jaime M. Grant, Ph.D., director of the Task Force Policy Institute, a leading LGBT think tank, and then the final author, Justin Tanis, D.Min.—a member of the clergy and community education and communications outreach manager at NCTE—wrapped up the general findings of the survey.
One stark finding that the revealed was 41 percent of respondents have attempted suicide compared to 1.6 percent of the general population. In the area of poverty those who were surveyed were four times as likely to live in extreme poverty with an income of less than $10,000 and are twice as likely to be unemployed. While in the workplace, half of the respondents experienced harassment and one out of four were fired due to gender identity or expression. Housing discrimination was rampant with 19 percent refused a home or apartment and 11 percent getting evicted because of their transgender status. One in five has experienced homelessness at one time or another.
The authors also spoke of bullying in school and fear of law-enforcement officials. People of color experienced higher rates of harassment than their white counterparts, according to the study. Despite these findings, more than 78 percent of the respondents said they feel more comfortable at work including their level of performance on the job after they have transitioned despite the harassment they still faced in the workplace.
Three transgender individuals then shared their stories of harassment and discrimination.
Ja'briel Walthour, a 34-year-old African-American transgender woman from Savannah, Ga., talked being ignored in U.S. society; she said that when she was not ignored she was teased and harassed—so much so that she attempted suicide and became a teenage runaway. Acknowledging that she was transgender while still in high school led to guilt and shame that she said she lived with for many years. Walthour also said that "as an African American it was socially unacceptable and even taboo to speak of such things." Wanting to enter the armed forces, Walthour was denied that dream due to her transgender status and she also experienced trouble getting a new drivers license that showed her true identity.
Michelle Enfield—a Navajo transgender woman from Los Angeles, Calif., who works as a prevention training specialist at Red Circle Project, which focuses on Native American HIV Prevention—also talked about facing discrimination. Enfield also talked about her history of being bullied in school by both fellow students and teachers, which led to drug and alcohol abuse. There have also been periods of homelessness and harassment by law enforcement during Enfield's life as a transgendered individual, she said.
Shane Morgan, founder and chair of TransOhio and an Ohio resident for 13 years, related his struggles with accessing healthcare. He said his family has stood by him and he has not lost his job; however, when he disclosed his transgender status in a pharmacy waiting room he experienced friction from health officials there. Morgan said he was turned away from treatment by a nurse practitioner who was uncomfortable with treating him due to his trans anatomy. Morgan said the nurse practitioner also asked about his genitals and other body parts in a loud voice while saying that his symptoms could not be valid since he looked male. Morgan said that education is the key with all individuals being involved to create a change in how transgender people are perceived in society.
The final speaker was Jane Ireland, a Tulsa, Okla., resident and transgender mother of three who said she was "honored to be a part of the trans community" but like many other transgender people she said she spent time as a homeless person and has also had to resign from her job.
Both Rea Carey, executive director of the Task Force and Mara Keisling, executive director of NCTE, said that these findings pose a challenge to everyone and this report is a call for fairness and equality by all Americans towards the transgender and gender non-conforming communities.
To read the entire report please visit: www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf and to find out more about the Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality visit their websites at www.thetaskforce.org/ and transequality.org, respectively.
