Transgender Awareness Week is a time to educate ourselves and our community about the issues faced by transgender individuals. It is a week to remember those who have faced violence and death due to prejudice and to celebrate the lives and contributions of transgender people in every community. This is the third in a five-part educational series for Transgender Awareness Week.

Transgender Awareness Week Part 3

Daily Issues

Everyone uses public bathrooms

But which bathroom do you use if you are transitioning?  During the extended period of time when a trans person's legal documents do not match their gender identity or appearance, the legal bathroom to use may be the one that does not conform to the correct gender identity.  This means that a male to female transgender person who wears dresses and has long, feminine hair is usually required to use the men's bathroom . . . and you can imagine how this might not be safe in many areas or situations.  People who appear androgynous or ambiguously gendered may experience harassment in either bathroom.  Many trans people must plan in advance where they can safely use the bathroom whenever they leave the house. For locations of gender-neutral bathrooms around campus, click HERE.

Confusion and Transphobia

It is common for people who are uneducated about the transgender community or who are transphobic to refer to transgender individuals as “it”, “he-she”, “she-male” or “tranny”. These are offensive terms and transgender individuals should only be referred to by their preferred pronouns and chosen names. Transgender people are not always “out”, but even the most well-meaning people can accidentally ‘out’ them in conversation to others. Well-meaning people can also inappropriately ask transgender individuals about their body, genitalia, or surgical status. These kinds of experiences are uncomfortable and hurtful. Daily life for transfolk can be greatly improved when allies/supporters of the transgender community speak out against transphobic remarks, do not ‘out’ transgender individuals without their express permission, respectfully ask for their preferred pronoun, and follow these general Do’s and Don’ts to being a trans ally.

Gendered activities become problematic

Suddenly, activities that may have once been important to a transgender person may now be invalidating.  Consider sports teams - most sports teams are single sex.  Trans people may be forced to leave a sports team when they begin transitioning, or they may feel pressured to leave beforehand, since team environments are highly gendered.  From changing and showering in locker rooms, to basic team dynamic, a revelation to teammates about feelings of gender variance can dramatically change the environment in athletics.

Trans people lose their history

Often, in order to remain safe in social situations, trans people must either lie about their past or not speak of it at all.  These may be seemingly minor omissions, such as a transman might not mention he used to be a Girl Scout, or it could involve a professor no longer being tied by name to their prior body of research.  Some trans people have unchangeable records that follow them throughout life, like military discharge papers with former names, or diplomas from women’s colleges (for transmen).  Life for trans people often becomes a constant mind game of remembering to hide their past from current social acquaintances.  This can be extremely alienating and isolating.

Job Insecurity and Harassment at Work

Recent national surveys show that 97% of transgender people have experienced harassment at work while 47% reported adverse job outcomes (getting fired, not hired, or denied a promotion). Work life can be very stressful and it is often too risky to simply leave one’s job since transfolk are subject to employment discrimination and face more obstacles in the hiring process. Transgender people have double the rate of unemployment as the rest of the population. It follows that transgender people have high rates of poverty and homelessness. 15% of transfolk live on less than $10,000/year which is twice the rate of the general population.  More survey results on employment discrimination and economic insecurity can be found HERE.

Accessing medical care can be a significant challenge

Apart from the struggle to afford healthcare, it is often challenging to obtain competent healthcare from physicians who are affirming and understand trans health.  Sometimes even receptionists can block access to healthcare - many female to male transgender people still have female reproductive anatomy and therefore need pap smears, but receptionists at health clinics often call security on these people, since they appear male.

Additionally, insurance agencies often only cover care for someone's assigned sex at birth.  Normally, this is fine - most women do not need prostate exams.  However, once a trans person begins taking hormones of another sex, they also begin to require some medical care of the other sex.  If a trans person has legally changed their gender and they enroll for a new health plan with their new legal gender, they may no longer be eligible for services for their assigned sex.

Compiled with information from the National Center for Transgender Equality and the Emma Goldman Society for Queer Liberation at Stanford University.

Brought to you by OUTbreak

LGBTQ students and allies at the University of Michigan School of Public Health