The struggle of the current trans reality
By Ari Lloyd
Jrn 100 News Reporter
Trans individuals have become a more targeted minority as they have become increasingly visible as they have become center of the spotlight.
Tate Duffy said that visibility of trans people has been increasing over the years with people such as famous celebrities and music artists, coming out as trans, non-binary or something else potentially related to the group community. While a larger spotlight can lead to more acceptance, it also can lead to more discrimination. Trans people like Ray Powell could be under more threat, leading to this development being more of a double-edged sword.
The study called, The experiences and challenges and hopes of transgender people in America it was made by Anna Brown, Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Kim parker, and Racheal Minkin, and It was published June 7, 2022. This study said U.S. State Department and Social Security Administration declared that Americans could legally select their gender as x making living in the country feel accessible to nonbinary individuals. Many states have also passed or have attempted to pass legislature that would limit the right of trans and nonbinary individuals. Things including, being forced to use the bathroom that corresponds with their assigned sex at birth, banning gender affirming medical care, and more.
The study said despite the recent positive attention and recognition many people in the trans community feel, the negatives and discrimination they experience outweigh the good.
The study found that trans individuals have experienced that people treat them lesser like they are not equal to someone who is cisgender. There is a lot of misinformation about trans people and the whole experience involving being trans which can lead to discrimination, one among many examples of that discrimination are trans people being referred to as an it which has been said to be dehumanizing.
Duffy who is a professional in the field of gender studies and LGBTQIA+ rights. He is directly involved in the Greater Boston P Flag Organization. This group is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to help the lives of queer individuals as a whole, there are over 400 locations of the Boston p flag, but Boston has the largest one.
Duffy said the founder of the organization Jeanne Manford had a mission, which was to connect queer and straight communities to help people on their journey to be allies. One of the many things the p flag does is operate a training and education program revolving around allyship to create safer communities, parenting etc.
Duffy spoke about how these dangers may vary from state to state, which can either be more minimal or more dangerous to trans people. There are states such as Massachusetts that is a safe place for trans people to live. Then there are states such a Florida which can be dangerous for trans people.
Duffy said states like Massachusetts for instance have inclusive trans friend laws and environment leading it to be a safe state for trans individuals. There has been a recent an influx of trans people moving to Massachusetts due to increasing amounts anti-trans laws and discrimination throughout other states such as Florida and Texas.
“In other states like Florida the talk of LGBTQIA+ has become inappropriate to children,” said Duffy.
Duffy said there also many places that trans people may feel unsafe in such as Florida. The state has many dangers to trans individuals such as no legal protection, a trans persons fear of being out in public, removing education of youth on topics, could be misgendered at work, school etc. Trans people who have experience in unsafe states can tell you the potentially very real and serious threats they have faced during their lives or the potential threats they could have faced if they had come out.
Powell is a trans student at Stonehill who goes by they/them pronouns and has shared some of their experiences about being trans, more specifically about being trans in a state where being trans is an unsafe reality of theirs.
“In short, growing up in the South as a trans person made me feel extremely unsafe most if not all the time. The fear of being beaten up by some random person in a parking lot was far too real for me,” said Powell
Powell also talked about how they could not share the fact that they were trans to friends for fear of being hurt or being abandoned by them This is an example of how southern states can be very more dangerous for trans people because Powell is one of many trans individuals who have experienced this making it a big reality for a lot of trans people.
The study said that in addition to social struggles many trans people also struggling with the process of getting gender affirming medical care due to a multitude of reasons. Insurance may often not cover gender affirming care as it can be viewed as non-essential even though obtaining gender affirming care is vital towards the mental health of trans individuals. Some primary care doctors will also refuse approval of gender-affirming treatment for patients. For many people in America who have the potential opportunity to access gender affirming care they must go into therapy for it and get approved for the treatment by their therapist and get officially diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
“Trying to get a note for dysphoria so I could get a single with a bathroom in it proved impossible because of paying insurance and needing an outside therapist,” said Powell.
Powell said the struggles of trans people is an ever-present experience in their lives, but they believe that things will slowly get better.
“However, now that I am in college with a supporting friend group, I am able to start expressing myself,” said Powell.
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