Transgender Issues
These issues are at the root of all transgender advocacy. Many of them reflect the current state of the legal system in America. In working to overturn this legislation, groups like NTAC are committed to not only bettering the lives of gender variant people through less discrimination—they are also focused on changing the status quo of tolerance and acceptance in society as a whole.
Relationship Recognition
Many people don’t understand what the big deal is with relationship and marriage recognition. Isn’t marriage just a piece of paper anyway? Not so. In America, married couples enjoy many rights and benefits that same-sex couples do not have access to, under the current law. Here are some of the benefits that same-sex couples miss out on: (taskforce.org)
- Right to inheritance of a spouse’s property
- Joint adoption
- Property tax and income tax deductions
- Disability payments
- Next-of-kin status for emergency medical situations
- Shared property, child support, and alimony (after divorce)
- Social security payment and veteran’s pensions, for widowed spouses
And that is only a partial list. You can see that, besides less than equal recognition in the eyes of society, limited relationship recognition by the state also robs gay transgender people of many legal benefits.
The upside is that in the past few years there has been much progress on the relationship recognition front. In that time, ten states and the District of Columbia have passed laws granting full marriage equality for same-sex couples. Since 2000, six states have also broadened their relationship recognition laws; while they don’t have full same-sex marriage, they do have civil unions or domestic partnerships. In that same time, however, many other states have passed statutes and amendments banning same-sex marriage. While progress is being made, there is still quite a way to go before we have nationwide recognition of same-sex marriage. (taskforce.org)
Where You Can Go to Help:
Sexual Discrimination
Unbelievably, many states don’t have laws banning sexual discrimination in everyday life. Just as African-Americans were once discriminated against based on race, many transgender people find it hard to go about their daily lives, due to lack of legal protection. This discrimination doesn’t only manifest in small ways, like worse service at a local restaurant or a tougher time getting hired. Surveys have showed that it massively impacts the quality of life for gender variant people. (taskforce.org)
- More than a quarter of transgender people report losing a job because of their gender identity
- Harassment and mistreatment on the job because of being transgender is a near-universal occurrence—97% of transgender people report experiencing it
- Transgender people are twice as likely to be living below the poverty line
- Nearly 1/5 have lost their housing due to being transgender
- 19% report being denied medical care because of their gender identity
- Harassment in medical settings has occurred to 28% of transgender people
As you can see, sexual discrimination shows up in all sorts of institutions, from healthcare to employment. For many transgender people, simply going about normal daily life can become stressful and needlessly difficult, because of the discrimination they face.
And, in most states, gender variant people have no recourse through the law for dealing with this discrimination. Only thirteen states have banned discrimination based on gender orientation. Most of this legislation has happened in the past ten years, which is hopeful. But, there is still a very long way to go. (taskforce.org)
Where You Can Go to Help: