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Posted: 09/08/2014 2:38 pm EDT Updated: 09/08/2014 2:59 pm EDT

Why Transphobia Is a FeministIssue

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We used to hear the saying, "As General Motors goes, so goes the nation," but togauge where we stand and where we're going as a society, maybe we should substitute"Netflix" for the automaker's name.

Consider the case of transgender rights. This is a landscape that is rapidly changing,breaking convention, busting stereotypes and forcing new ways of thinking on largesegments of the population.

Laverne Cox, one of the stars of Netflix's "Orange Is the New Black(https://www.facebook.com/OITNB)" and the first openly transgender Emmynominee in the acting category, may not have won the award this year, but history hasalready been made. Cox appeared on the cover of TIME Magazine and her show isn'teven the only major TV show to feature transgender characters and storylines. Thenew dramatic comedy "Transparent" debuts on Amazon Prime on September 26,starring Jeffrey Tambor as a father preparing to come out as transgender to his threechildren.

The degree to which social institutions, the media and governments recognize the civiland human rights of the transgender community is increasingly in the spotlight.

President Barack Obama recently signed an executive order prohibiting transgenderfederal workers from discrimination, and the Affordable Care Act prohibits healthinsurance companies from discriminating against transgender people, opening thedoor to coverage that includes gender reassignment surgery.

The Washington Post has launched an advice column on LGBT/straight etiquette.The U.S. Department of Education announced that Title IX protects transgenderstudents. And Facebook opened gender options for transgender and gender non-conforming users.

But it's not all good news. We're also seeing historic levels of transphobia--discrimination, hate speech and violent, even fatal attacks on transgender women andmen.

According to the report "Injustice at Every Turn"(http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf) publishedby the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and LesbianTask Force:

Transgender people experienced unemployment at twice the rate of the generalpopulation, "with rates for people of color up to four times the nationalunemployment rate."

Ninety percent of transgender people reported experiencing harassment,mistreatment or discrimination on the job.

Twenty-two percent of respondents who have interacted with police reportedharassment by police, "with much higher rates reported by people of color."

Almost half of the respondents (46 percent) reported being uncomfortableseeking police assistance.

Forty-one percent of respondents reported attempting suicide, compared to 1.6percent of the general population.

We need a national conversation about transphobia, which dehumanizes, demeansand disadvantages a specific group of people. This is a feminist issue on two levels.First, like racism and homophobia, transphobia grows out of and helps perpetuate thesame patriarchal ideology that dictates women's subordination as second-classcitizens. Second, transphobia disproportionately harms women.

Trans women face higher rates of discrimination, violence, sexual assault, andpoverty. Around half of all victims of anti-LGBTQIA homicides in 2012 weretransgender, and all of them were women of color.

Black and African-American transgender women have a 50 percent greater homiciderate than their white, Latina, and Native American counterparts and were more thanthree times as likely to experience police violence more than any other group,according to a 2012 report by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs onLGBTQIA and HIV Affected Hate Violence.

These are all civil rights violations because they are rooted in the denial of a person'sright to be who they are. Equal means equal. That includes equality for all women, notjust a certain type of woman. Not just women who look like me!

(javscript:void(0))

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The consequences of violating these fundamental rights are not just the alarmingrates of homelessness, unemployment, access to health care, economic insecurity,depression and suicide, but also the weakening of the very fabric of our society.

It diminishes all of us when one type of person or group is targeted, and when they aredenied the basic understanding, compassion and protection we all expect and deserve.

Last month, The National Organization for Women (http://now.org/) (NOW) interns,along with trans folk and allies from across the country participated in TransgenderLobby Day on Capitol Hill. NOW intern Jenna Archer wrote a blog post(http://now.org/blog/transgender-lobby-day-gives-a-voice-to-trans-folks-and-allies/) about the Lobby Day that included this insight:

"While I was leaving the office of Representative Barbara Lee (my home district),I overheard a young man passing me in the hallway say to his colleagues 'I hadnever met a trans person before today.' "

Amplifying the voices and stories of transgender people puts a human face to theseissues, and reveals the true impact of discrimination and the urgent need to affordLGBTQIA people federal protections."

Laverne Cox has said, "It is revolutionary for any trans person to choose to be seenand visible in a world that tells us we should not exist." The history of feminism tellsus that women know all too well what it's like to not be seen, heard or treated withfairness and respect.

TIME Magazine's cover story on Laverne Cox had the headline, "The TransgenderTipping Point (http://time.com/135480/transgender-tipping-point/)." I'm not surewe've come that far just yet. But with the support and commitment of thoughtfulfeminists, we'll get there.

Follow Terry O'Neill on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Terryoneill(http://www.twitter.com/Terryoneill)

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11 comments

Lynnette MFadzen · Top Commenter · Host at The Bi Cast

Thank you so much. It is a feminist issue. It is an issue all humankind should address.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · September 8 at 4:41pm9

Jessica Avarial Mizell · Arkansas State University

"Equal means equal." Love it. Love everything about it.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · September 8 at 6:07pm6

Alice Hayashi · Loveland, Colorado

Thank you for this article and bringing attention to this issue.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · Yesterday at 6:57am3

Don Krieger · Top Commenter · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Something missing ...

A transgender woman is a woman.So it makes sense that discrimination and violence against women is a women's issue,sort of.The thing is that the supporter of a discriminatory policy or the perpetrator of a violent actagainst a transgender woman is most often, I suspect, a homophobic man or a man-hating woman who fails to identify and relate to the woman as a woman. I find nothing inthe article which speaks to this point but I think it's likely an important one to address. --DonReply · Like · · Follow Post · September 8 at 10:06pm2

Jennifer James · · Make-up Artist at Jennifer James Beauty · 1,773 followers

Agreed! The national, global conversation must happen and become a regular part ofour lives. Our humanity is again diminished otherwise.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · September 8 at 7:16pm

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Dawn Alderman · Works at Stop Asking me the Same Question Over and Over Again!

Thank you for this article, and for your organization's support.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · 15 hours ago1

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