Why Transgenders Should Have Equal Rights

When discussing injustices, it is pivotal--for the sake of true progressive social change--to include all oppressed groups into the dialogue. Transgender People tend to be heavily misrepresented and demonized. Because of transphobia, there

Transgendered people in America have made many great strides since the 1990s. They have encountered violence, lack of health care, and the loss of homes, jobs, family and friends. There have been many phases of the struggle of being transgendered in America over the years. The current phase we must be in now is equal rights. There are many variations of discrimination against the transgendered community. In our society we simply do not like what we do not understand. It is easier to discriminate than to try and understand. We are all created different and we should appreciate our differences. The change must come by addressing the views of the public. There is much justification in the unequal rights of transgendered peoples. The Human

Americans are still divided on transgender rights and identity. In a new study from Pew Research Center, 46% of respondents said transgender said transgender people should be required presumably by law, to “use the public restroom of the gender they were born with”, 51% of those surveyed said the opposite- that transgender people should be able to use the bathroom, of their choice. Forcing people to use the bathroom that they were born with can be humiliating, and that’s why we need to come together and have gender neutral bathrooms.

Did you know that more than 50% of transgender minors have admitted to attempting suicide? How about that 82% of transgender youth feel unsafe or scared at school? These statistics are high, too high. Transgender is defined as of, relating to, or being a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person's sex at birth, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary. Years ago it was considered bad to be transgender, but our society has become more open-minded, leading to the coming outs of many more transgender minors. However, while it seems as though we are more open-minded, transgender youth are still being mistreated, to a point where suicide sometimes seems like the only good

It’s not hard to say that America has come so far into society and our freedom. How can our country forget when slavery ended in 1865 and gave women more rights in 1920. However, over time America has ignored the basic rights of transgender people. Transgender people are not any different from African Americans, or women. Why should they be treated any different, they're humans just like everybody else. They deserve the same basic treatment as a human rather than being treated like they're not from this planet. There are transgender people today who are getting harassed and tormented for just going into the bathroom for what they identify as. They should be able to go into a bathroom for which gender they identify as. Rather than making special bathrooms for transgender people that make them stand out and feel like they’re labeling themselves for using.

Recently, the issue of allowing transgender people access to public facilities according to the gender they identify with has caused much debate throughout the United States. The bathroom bill seeks to control access to public facilities of transgender individuals, based on the gender they were assigned at birth. In 2015, bills were passed stating entering a bathroom not assigned to a person at birth was a crime. Surrounded by misconception, the bill does “not legalize harassment, stalking, violence, or sexual assault.” Since the bill arose, there have not been a rise in violence or other incidents in the states protecting the transgender rights (Transgender Equality). The bill simply states if one is living as a woman, to use the women’s restroom,

The problem with transgender rights is that they are not treated as basic human rights. The main cause of this problem is that some people look at it as "not in the norm" or "out of the ordinary" and as a result, transgender people are either out casted, bullied, beaten, killed or denied certain rights. A human male wanting to transition into a human female and vice versa should not make them less than exactly what they are, a human-being. A possible solution would be for people to take the time to research and educate or interact with more transgender people and learn something about their decision instead of going into the problem blind with the assumption that all transgender people are not normal.

In many cases, including that of Kosilek, gender dysphoria can lead to self-mutilation, self- castration, and suicide attempts.

It was now potentially unlawful for a plan to deny coverage for services that are included in a plan solely because of an individual’s gender identity or because of the gender used to enroll in a plan (NCTE, n.d.). It was a federal court ruling in 2015 (Rumble v. Fairview Health Services) that confirmed the ACA prohibits discrimination based on gender identity. The decision clarified that health care providers and hospitals accepting federal Medicare or Medicaid funds are subject to the ACA's prohibition of discrimination based on sex, which extends to transgender individuals (Kellaway, 2015). Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a rule confirming that the ACA prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, specifically in health care. Plans could no longer deny coverage for medically appropriate service simply because of a transgender identity or because of the gender listed on an insurance record (Albeni, 2015). Yet with these protections, there still remains a gap in transgender male reproductive

This has not been the case with the seventeen school districts who have reported zero problems with transgenders involved in inappropriate behaviours ( Percelay, 2015). This will ironically have the reverse effect of placing Transgender men in women's restroom and transgender women in male restrooms, it is very clear who are likely to be victimised under these circumstances. Why the hate and stigma of individuals yearning for a place to belong, after all, they are human beings too and should be protected like the general

Oppression is prolonged unjust and cruel treatment. The LGBT community has faced oppression for a very long time. Transgender individuals face oppression in a different way and are often overlooked by LGBT groups because they are finding themselves in a different way. Transgender people are treated cruel and even murdered because of their choices and decisions. These individuals are facing oppression based on themselves but also in ways such as poverty. With discrimination comes the difficulty to keep a job and a safe work environment. This group is one of the main groups forgotten about and misunderstood. Instead of facing oppression for one reason these individuals face cruel treatment just walking down the street. It is impossible

Transgenders are being categorized as being mentally ill. Though transgender counseling exists it only focuses on pathology and diagnosis. Transgenders are also severely at risk of hate crimes. In the United States alone, there are 321 transgender hate crimes per year. Transgender hate crimes can be compared to Muslims post-9/11. There’s no law to protect them from these hate crimes and nothing is ever really done to show them that they have rights too. There’s no law protecting them with employment right’s either. Due to discrimination they are vulnerable and led to no job, homelessness, suicide and even no health care. ( Anneliese A. Singh, Danica G. Hays, and Laurel S. Watson 20)

Transgendered people are equal under the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment, section 1 states: No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. This means that the bathroom bill has broken the law. Bathroom bill or H.B. 2 has truncated transgendered people’s rights.

In a lot of places around the world more and more people are coming out as “Transgender.” The term transgender means that the person’s gender identity does not correspond with the gender they were assigned as having at birth. From personally having a transgender boyfriend I have since realized that these people experience a lot of discrimination in and from society. Many people simply just do not understand what the term transgender means and they see it as someone just “wants to be a man” or “wants to be a woman.” While there may be people who present it this way, it is more so that the individual just “feels” different, and “feels” as if they are “in the wrong body.” Some people experience this feeling at a young age as my boyfriend did in his elementary age. We live in a world who put these people down for being who they truly are, and no human being wants or needs that.

Transgender people are discriminated on an almost daily basis. They are discriminated in the workplace, as shown in a study commisioned by the Equalities Review. In a group of transgender people who have jobs and are prone to workplace-enviroment effects and opinions, “many respondents experienced harassment from co-workers and employers.” Nearly 29% of the group experience verbal abuse and harassment in the workplace enviroment, and about 4% received physical abuse. About 7% experienced threats, and about 27% experienced some sort of different treatment due to their gender non-conforming ways.(Whittle 38-39). In another study, it was found that being mistreated in the school years would have a negative effect on future outcomes relating to employment. “Those who were physically attacked in school were considerably more likely to stay in a job (64%) compared to those who were not (42%) (Grant 50).” They are also discriminated in public as well, adding on to the distress that many transgender people suffer from regularly, making it seem as if all transgender people are crazy. Transgender people are just more likely to be diagnosed as someone with a mental disorder because its helpful to see that those who have been diagnosed are “hurting and something needs to be done to help (Kreitler 1).” In