Transgender - Social
Transphobia — institutional, societal, and individual-level discrimination against transgender persons — is still pervasive in the United States and elsewhere. Transphobia refers to prejudice, discrimination, or hatred directed towards individuals who are transgender or gender non-conforming. It encompasses various negative attitudes, beliefs, and actions that seek to marginalize, stigmatize, or invalidate transgender people based on their gender identity. The unease generally provoked by sexual ambiguity exposes continuing discomfort with transgression of binary categories, whether the boundaries are broken by anatomy, sexuality, or non-conformity with gendered stereotypes of identity.
Because of relatively high rates of unemployment, lack of career training and education, and discrimination in employment, many transgender women engage in sex work for survival. Transgender women of color face multiple adversities, such as racial and gender discrimination; transphobia; economic challenges including unemployment, substance abuse, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections; and mental illness.
High prevalence rates of suicidal ideations and attempts were reported among transgender women. Those who had ever had suicidal ideation were more likely to be depressed than were those who had not. Depression was significantly and independently correlated with transphobia, social support, suicidal ideation, Latina ethnicity, and lower income and education levels. A 2006 study showed that the prevalence rate of suicide attempts was 32% among transgender persons in San Francisco, and that suicide attempts were significantly correlated with age (younger than 25 years), depression, having a history of enrolling in substance abuse treatment programs, sexual victimization, and gender-based discrimination.
Statistics documenting transgender people's experience of sexual violence indicate shockingly high levels of sexual abuse and assault. In the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs [NCAVP] 2009 report on hate violence, 50 percent of people who died in violent hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people were transgender women; the other half were male, many of whom were gender non-conforming. Sexual assault and/or genital mutilation before or after their murders was a frequent occurrence.
One in two transgender individuals are sexually abused or assaulted at some point in their lives. Fifteen percent of transgender individuals report being sexually assaulted while in police custody or jail, which more than doubles (32 percent) for African-American transgender people. Some reports estimate that transgender survivors may experience rates of sexual assault up to 66 percent, often coupled with physical assaults or abuse.2 This indicates that the majority of transgender individuals are living with the aftermath of trauma and the fear of possible repeat victimization.
Transgender Awareness Month is an annual celebration of transgender history and the transgender community. It is celebrated every November to commemorate the Transgender Day of Remembrance, Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual observance that honours and remembers those who have lost their lives due to anti-transgender violence. The Transgender Day of Remembrance was established in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a transgender woman, in response to the brutal murder of Rita Hester, a transgender woman, in Allston, Massachusetts. May 17 is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), marking the day in 1990 that the World Health Organization (WHO) delisted “homosexuality” as a medical diagnosis.
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