Trans activist Gunner Scott says, despite increased visibility, it’s
still dangerous to be transgender in America

State of the Union

By GUNNER SCOTT  |  May 23, 2012

I don't know why I'm transgender. I just am.

I do know that I'm not alone. According to the Williams Institute,
there are an estimated 33,000 transgender people in Massachusetts,
which is almost equivalent to the seats filled at Fenway Park when the
Red Sox are on a winning streak. Throughout history, and in every
culture, there have been people who have lived as the gender they
understood themselves to be and not the sex they were assigned at
birth.

Being transgender is not immoral or wrong, but the discrimination
transgender people face is fierce. Which is why, on the evening of
November 19, 2011, I sat in the gallery of the Massachusetts State
House, watching the debate over the Transgender Equal Rights bill. My
organization, the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, and a
coalition of community groups and activists had worked for six years
on its behalf, and that week the law was finally passed. On July 1, it
will go into effect, extending non-discrimination protections in
employment, housing, credit, and public education to transgender
people. This will bring a measure of equality to my life as a
transgender man, and especially to the lives of thousands of
transgender youth, adults, and families.

It is frustrating to think that, before I transitioned from female to
male, I had these rights and protections, but once I came to terms
with who I was and began to let the rest of the world in on my
reality, these rights and protections I'd grown accustomed to — like
being treated fairly when trying to rent an apartment — evaporated.

Passing this law was a huge victory, but it was also bittersweet,
because explicit protections for gender identity in public
accommodations was not included. Public accommodations are places like
grocery stores, restaurants, hospitals, public transit, gas stations,
museums, coffee shops, health clubs, parks, and retail stores. Can you
imagine being told you're not welcome to shop or dine somewhere
because of who you are? This is the cold reality for many transgender
youth and adults.

Compared to the time it takes for state laws to change, Barack Obama
and his administration have been moving at lightning speed on the
federal level with enactments of positive policy changes. Before Obama
even stepped foot in the Oval Office, a sexual orientation and gender
identity non-discrimination employment policy for his administration
was put in place, thus putting out the welcome mat to prospective LGBT
applicants. He is the first sitting president to ever to do this, and
he has since become the first sitting president to support same-sex
marriage.

In the past three and half years, his administration has appointed two
talented, openly transgender people, added sexual-orientation and
gender-identity non-discrimination provisions for federal employees
and HUD-funded housing programs, and issued new rules for passport
gender marker changes; and the Office of Personnel Management issued
guidance on transgender individuals in the federal workplace. Just
this week, the Justice Department issued LGBT-inclusive rules to
prevent sexual assault in prisons.

There have been some other recent successes for the transgender
community, like the Girl Scouts' decision to include transgender
girls, and the rule change at the Miss Universe pageant, which enabled
the first transgender woman to compete.

But it is still dangerous to be a transgender person in America.

 Some transgender men and women are visibly different, which means
that sometimes other people notice us, particularly when we are at the
beginning stages of our gender transition. Not only can our appearance
not look stereotypically male or female, but more likely our identity
documents may not have caught up with our transition. In a post-9/11
world, these documents matter, and if a transgender person has a
driver's license or school ID that has a gender marker or name that
does not match with their identity and gender expression, this can
lead to being asked invasive and uncomfortable questions, outright
denial of service or employment — and in some cases — harassment,
physical violence, sexual assault, or murder.

Add racism and poverty to the mix, and it can be a deadly combination.
Young transgender women of color face some of the most brutal
consequences. Although there is slow-growing acceptance of transgender
people and a recent uptick in visibility with the help of such
celebrities as Chaz Bono, this stands in stark contrast to the
experiences of young transgender women of color.

In the past few months, several such women have been killed due to
what is most likely hate-motivated violence. Some of these women
included Deoni Jones, who was stabbed in the head while waiting for a
bus; Coko Williams, who was shot outside her home; Brandy Martell, who
was shot while sitting in her car; Paige Clay, who was shot in the
head and found dead in an alley; and, just a few weeks ago, Lorena
Escalera, who died in her apartment from a suspicious fire. This is
not just a bad spell of violence for transgender women; this is an
ongoing epidemic. According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence
Programs, in 2010, transgender women made up 44 percent of the 27
murders related to hate violence against the LGBTQ community reported
nationally.

What has shifted slightly in the past year has been coverage of these
cases by the mainstream media. Some reporters are helping to show the
humanity of those lost by including stories from friends and family
about how loved and cherished they were, and how much they will be
missed. This type of reporting is challenging the idea that
transgender women are not valued.

Just a few years ago, media coverage labeled transgender women as "men
in dresses" and "perverts," and insinuated that they were responsible
for their own deaths. There is still some use of incorrect terminology
in reporting today, as well as inappropriate disclosure of past names,
but a number of more recent stories focus on the fact that violence
and discrimination against transgender people has a ripple effect on
all of us. Family and friends have lost someone they loved, and
society has lost that person's potential for greatness.

There is still a mountain of work to be done to better the lives of
transgender youth and adults. In addition to non-discrimination
protections on the state and federal level, there is a need for real
economic opportunities. The 2009 National Transgender Discrimination
survey found that transgender respondents were at double the rate of
unemployment and nearly four times more likely to be living off an
income of less than $10,000 year than the general population.
Long-term discrimination has lasting economic effects on communities,
and there is an immediate need to lift transgender people out of
crushing poverty.

Simply put: society's stigma is still killing us. But this can change,
and you can help. Accepting and promoting gender diversity and
ensuring that transgender youth and adults are part of the fabric of
our communities make the world brighter for everyone, transgender or
not.

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Gunner Scott is the executive director of the Massachusetts
Transgender Political Coalition, which has been selected as one of the
grand marshals for Boston Pride. For more information, visit
masstpc.org <http://masstpc.org/> . Follow him on Twitter
@mrgunnerscott and @masstpc.

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