Trans community ‘in crisis’ | gayagenda.com
A recent rash of shootings — and the mysterious death of a man dressed in women’s clothes — has the transgender community on edge, with at least one activist describing the situation as a “crisis.”
Counting the Transgender Community
A new initiative provides real numbers, for the first time, on how transgender Americans are discriminated against — and they’re startling.
February 4, 2011 |
(Flickr/Fibonacci Blue’s photostream)
Transgender people live with a bull’s-eye on their back. Anyone who denies this fact — so hard for some to swallow in the wake of recent victories on marriage equality and “don’t ask, don’t tell” for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people — is due for a wake-up call.
Today, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) released “Injustice at Every Turn,” a report based on the results of what is by far the country’s largest transgender discrimination survey to date — with 6,450 participants to the next largest study’s 700.
This is important. Currently most surveys — including the census and epidemiological studies — contain zero questions about sexual orientation, never mind gender identity and expression.
The consequences of not being counted, of being invisible, is that no one knows who constitutes the transgender community, what its members experience, or what their challenges or needs are. The many costs to transgender people include the fact that they are allotted little if any funding or resources on the state or federal level.
That’s even true of resources spread within an LGB community that often forgets the “T.”
Transgender Quality of Life Survey
Got this in my email today. Passing it along if you want to participate. Yes, you can select intersex.
You are invited to participate in a research project being conducted by Stephanie Bernier, Lindsay Day, Andrea Mooney, and Maureen O’Malley, graduate students working under Win Turner Ph.D., in the Department of Social Work at the University of Maine.
The purpose of our research is to look at the relationship between the social life experiences of people who identify as transgender, and how this may affect an individual’s evaluation of his or her of quality of life.
You must be at least 18 years of age or older to participate in this study.
Ross Updates Trans Discrimination Policy
Following the ejection from a Ross Dress for Less store of a transgender woman who was trying on clothes, the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington says that the store is making positive changes to make the company less discriminatory.
In November 2010, “Christy_M” posted on a cross-dressing forum that a manager pounded on the dressing room door of the company’s Lynnwood, Wash. store and yelled, “You need to get out of the dressing room now!” as she was trying on a sweater dress. Startled and embarrassed, Christy_M left the store, and vomited in the parking lot. “I felt so embarrassed and disgusted with myself,” Christy_M wrote. “I have so much shame wearing on me that I can hardly move.”
In December the ACLU contacted the stores for the unlawful discrimination under Washington state law, writing, “Ross was legally required to afford (Christy_M) ‘full enjoyment’ of its Lynnwood store, which includes the right to enter the store and not be treated as unwelcome, unaccepted, undesired or unsolicited.”
The ACLU of Washington says that California-based Ross Dress for Less has clarified to employees that company policy prohibits discrimination against persons based on gender identity and expression, and that the Ross Stores was drafting policy including a “special instruction” to employees on accommodating customers’ gender identities for use of the bathroom and dressing rooms.
For more, click here.
The National Transgender Discrimination Survey Report
The National Transgender Discrimination Survey is the most extensive survey of transgender discrimination ever undertaken. Over 6,450 responses are included in the survey, which explored discrimination in all aspects of life.
This study brings to light what is both patently obvious and far too often dismissed from the human rights agenda. Transgender and gender non-conforming people face injustice at every turn: in childhood homes, in school systems that promise to shelter and educate, in harsh and exclusionary workplaces, at the grocery store, the hotel front desk, in doctors’ offices and emergency rooms, before judges and at the hands of landlords, police officers, health care workers and other service providers.
Download and read the Executive Summary (956 KB)
Download and read the Full Report (25 MB)
The Trans Consumer: White Vs. Black Binders (Underworks)
Hi, I wanted to write something in response to the “a note on binders” post talking about black binders. I just wanted to say, you shouldn’t buy the white or black binder solely because you prefer one color over the other. The black binder and the white binder have different textures to them,…
I’ve worn both white and black binders from Underworks. I haven’t been able to tell a difference in textures, but if you have dry skin the black binder can be slightly more itchy. The only difference I can feel between the two is that the seams near the arm pits of the black binders are rougher and can irritate your skin. To remedy this, I suggest applying some baby rash cream. Its worked for me and has prevented dark marks on my skin caused by excessive fabric rubbing.
Source: thetransconsumer
Suicide among trans people in Ontario
* 77 percent of trans Ontarians have seriously considered suicide.
* 50 percent of trans Ontarians have seriously considered suicide because of being trans.
* 43 percent of trans Ontarians have attempted suicide at some point in their lives.
* In the past year, 47 percent of trans Ontarians aged 16 to 24 have seriously considered suicide and 19 percent have attempted suicide, whereas for those aged 25 and older, 27 percent have considered it and 7 percent have attempted.
* 20 percent of trans Ontarians have been the targets of physical or sexual assaults for being trans at some point in their lives, and 34 percent have experienced verbal harassment or threats for being trans. Those who have been assaulted are twice as likely to have seriously considered suicide in the past year than those who have not (47 percent as compared to 26 percent), and more than seven times more likely to have made a suicide attempt (29 percent as compared to 4 percent).
* The survey found no differences in recent suicidal considerations or attempts between trans people on the male-to-female and female-to-male spectrums, or between members of racialized and non-racialized groups.
Man gets 18 yrs. for transgender slaying
A Milwaukee man was sentenced to 11 years in prison and seven years of extended supervision for the slaying of an African-American transgender woman.
Under terms of a plea bargain, Andrew Olacirequi, 27, pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide while armed in the May shooting of Dana (Chanel) Larkin. He faced a maximum penalty of 15 years behind bars and 10 of supervision.
In pronouncing sentence, Judge Kevin Martens said he had to consider the danger that Olacirequi represents to the community at large as well as the impact of his crime on Larkin’s family and the transgender community.
Read the story at Wisconsin Gazette.
Some transgender resources:
Chicago Gender Society,
PO Box 578005, 60657 (708) 863-7714
http:// www.transgender.org
Gemini Gender Group,
PO Box 44211, Milwaukee, 53214 (414) 297-9328
GenderPAC, gpac@gpac.org , www.gpac.org ,
1638 R Street NW, St 100, Washington, D.C. 20009-6446 (202) 462-6610
FORGE—For Ourselves: Reworking Gender Expression
info@forge-foeward.org ,
www.forge-forward.org (414) 559-2123
Howard Brown Health Center Transgender Support Group
1st/3rd Monday of the month 4025 N Sheridan Road
International Foundation for Gender Education
PO Box 540229 Waltham, Mass 02454-0229,
www.ifge.org (781) 899-2212
Island Girls TV, CD, TG, Ts, 1st Wed. of month at the Edge
http:// www.islandgirlstg.com
Illinois Gender Advocates transsexual,
47 W.Division, #391, Chicago 60610
ItsTime@aol.com (312) 409-5489
Transitions from the inside out with expert, Hinsdale
(630) 375-7285
Chi Tri Ess,
PO Box 303, Wood Dale, IL 60191-0040 (708) 383-1677
info@chi-triess.org , http:// www.chi-triess.org/
TONI—Transgendered Outreach of North Indiana
(219) 929-8533 P.O. Box 132, Portgage, IN 46368,
ClaudiaK1@aol.com
www.Transgenderlegal.com
Let's Talk about "Tranny" - Media Criticisms
This is part two in a three part series. You may want to read 
part one first, which details the meanings and associations of the term “tranny” when used as a slur. Understanding those meanings provides useful background for understanding the implications of the term in other contexts.
The thing about free speech is that people are free to say hurtful and offensive things, but everyone else is free to point out that it’s not okay and encourage people not to support it. In most cases, that’s what we’re talking about when people complain about censorship. But let’s be clear about something: it’s not just about the word people are complaining about, but what’s behind it.
The reality is that even though that one word is what tends to be focused on, in every case of protest, we’re talking about something much deeper going on. When the term is casually and irresponsibly thrown about that can certainly be offensive, but the real issue is that it is often an indicator of wider transphobia and misogyny.
CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLES.
In The Life: Transgender Musicians
Page 1 of 4
