No Home For The Holidays

When I told my family in early 2002 of my plan to transition to live as a female, they were shocked, to say the least. But I am one of the lucky ones. My family and friends worked hard to understand, and as a result I continue to be part of the traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas family gatherings that my brother and his wife host in their home each year. Yet some transgender people are forced to pass the holidays alone, shunned by family and friends. And more than one-third of transgender individuals have no home at all.

The transgender homeless population is so large because 3 in 5 Americans live in areas that do not explicitly ban discrimination based on gender identity and expression. Transgender people tend to be under-employed or un-employed as a result, and therefore without money to afford stable housing. Even if we can afford a place to live, too many of us are denied a home because of housing discrimination.

Employment discrimination is probably the strongest factor in loss of home and hope. More than 1 in 4 transgender people have faced an adverse job action, such as losing their jobs, being denied a promotion, or not being hired because of their gender identity or expression. Almost all of us have faced harassment or discrimination on the job due to our gender identity or expression.

When I first announced to my pre-transition employer that I would soon be Joanne, my employer strongly hinted that I would not be able to keep my position. I was lucky to find another job, in a progressive organization staffed mostly by women, which I was able to start right after transition. I remain happily employed there today.

Sadly, a disproportionate number of American transgender people who face housing and job discrimination are those who present as female. This comes as no surprise when you consider that, despite the progress achieved by women as a whole over the years, the United States is ranked 31st in gender equality, falling between Lithuania and Namibia. Our country's gender bias shows in the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association. The DSM specifically labels males who wear women's clothes as mentally ill, but the same label does not apply to females who wear men's clothes.

This institutional discrimination severely challenges those born male who present in a feminine way. Far too many end up rejected by their families and eventually become homeless. As a consequence of parental rejection, Point Foundation, the nation's LGBT scholarship fund of which I am a Board member, receives few applications from qualified male-to-female transgender candidates in spite of efforts to attract them. To a transgender teen who has not finished high school, a college education must only seem like a fantasy.

Despite the grim realities we see today, there is hope as we enter this holiday season. On October 29, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. It is the first federal law to include transgender people, and represents a significant turning point from the days when federal laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, actually contributed to the oppression of transgender people by specifically excluding us.

Furthermore, on October 21, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) became the first federal agency to officially propose guidelines that would prohibit housing discrimination based on gender identity as well as sexual orientation. Still needed is protection against employment discrimination, which will come from transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act legislation that comes closer to passage each year in the House and Senate.

The last frontier to conquer is family attitudes. Seeing the enactment of these federal protections will go a long way. But nothing will match the experience of having transgender people being seen as equals by their neighbors, co-workers, and family.

When all transgender people are met with the love and support from their families that I am lucky enough to have with mine, that will be the day that we all can be home for the holidays.

 

 

 

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