Transphobia- An intense dislike of or prejudice against transgender people

Hate Crimes

Trans people of any sort face considerable hardship due to their nature, including "extraordinary levels of physical and sexual violence, whether on the streets, at school or work, at home, or at the hands of government officials. More than one in four trans people has faced a bias-driven assault, and rates are higher for trans women and trans people of color."(Anti-Violence).

Discrimination

Gender non-conforming people see a remarkable amount of discrimination in their day to day lives.
  • Out of students in grades K-12 who expressed a non conforming identity, 78% experience harassment, 35% experienced physical violence and 12% experienced sexual assault
  • Trans individuals see double the rate of unemployment than the general population
  • 90% of those surveyed experienced mistreatment of some sort
  • 78% felt that their performance improved after transitioning (gender reassignment) despite harassment
  • 19% claim they were refused housing due to their identity
  • 53% of respondents report discrimination in public accommodations
  • 22% of those who had had interactions with the police report harassment
(Grant, Mottet and Tanis)

Preferred Pronouns and Misgendering

Everyone uses pronouns and for cisgender people (people who's gender coincides with their sex) these pronouns match the gender they were designated at birth. Trans people (in this case trans is being used as an umbrella term to refer to all gender variant people) will likely have preferred gender pronouns (also known as PGPs) that they prefer to be referred to as. Some examples are:
  • Masculine- He/his
  • Feminine- She/her
  • Gender Neutral- They/their
(Mardell). PGPs can be a touchy subject and people could potentially get offended if you misgender them. If you don't know someone's pronouns just ask or avoid pronouns altogether. If you misgender someone apologize quickly and sensibly, don't blow it out of proportion (Porche).

Suicide

Almost half the population of trans gender/nonconforming have attempted suicide at one point during their life. "Researchers from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law found that the risk of attempting suicide was especially severe for transgender or gender nonconforming people who had suffered discrimination or violence, such as being physically or sexually assaulted at work or school."()
Recent Trans teens who commited suicide:
  • Cameron Langrell - Transgirl - Highschool Freshman
  • Leelah Alcorn - Transgirl -17 years old
  • Blake Brockington - Transboy - 18 years old
  • Zander Mahaffey - Transboy - 15 years old
  • Lexi Lopez-Brandies - Genderquer - 14 years old
(Teen). Rest in Peace.