Social and Legal Issues for the Trans Community

The movements for protection of transgender rights have been small and varied. So, instead of analyzing the effects of a specific social movement, I will touch on points of interest within the transgender community fighting for social rights. First, I will cover the scope of government regulation when it comes to transgender rights. Then I will analyze the varied aspects of mistreatment of transgender people on an individual scale and on institutional scales and how social movements can seek to stop these injustices.

Many countries do not specify gender identity in their legal codes against discrimination. One reason could be that if they were written in the 1900s, gender identity and sexuality were often considered to be interchangeable (Weiss). For instance, a homosexual male was considered to be more feminine. Now we know that, to the contrary, gender and sexuality often do not coincide with the heteronormative gender perceptions. Another reason that gender identity is exculded could be because the writers of these documents considered a change in gender identity to be unacceptable. Due to these factors, it is hard to assess the amount of federal legal protection of transgender individuals. However, some countries have made great strides when it comes to legal protection, like the UK, Canada, Germany, and South Africa. In the UK, employers are fined up to £5,000 if they reveal that an employee has a Gender Recognition Certificate. These certificates are obtained legally to assure that the employer identifies a person as the proper gender after transitioning (Weiss). These certificates create a more tolerant environment within the workforce and encourage social acceptance. The United States, therefore, is not the most advanced in social acceptance. Tolerance varies by region, and there are no federal regulations written to protect transgender rights. Also, wherever there may be laws there might not be high levels of respect.

Social movements for the trans community must therefore center on changing the framework of society and its perception of the trans community. People who have had a sex change, for example, may not be recognized as the proper gender by “a federal agency, such as the Immigration and Naturalization Service, a city Registrar who has the power to amend birth certificates, a jail warden or homeless shelter social worker who places inmates into male and female institutions, or a judge hearing a case involving the right change one’s name to a name typically associated with the opposite sex” (Weiss).  Even marriage is often denied heterosexual couples if one or both spouses are trans-identified and denial of health care benefits to trans people by private insurers often occurs. These are major struggles for transgender individuals. This shows that social movements must seek federal regulation that legitimizes changes in gender. As the Stonewall Riot of 1969 acknowledged, police considered their unique gender expression to be unreasonable and used their biases as excuses to be violent (Love, 2010). But police are only one sector of people who get violent with trans people. One study found that “78 percent of those who expressed a transgender identity or gender nonconformity while in kindergarten through twelfth grade experienced harassment” (Stonewall, 2011). This should not be too shocking, since the overall attitude towards people who do not fit role expectations is usually pretty negative. 

A list of trans folks who have been killed from 1970-2000

Two main options are considered to combat these intolerances, especially in school environments. Beemyn recommends zero-tolerance policies because it seems necessary for schools to put their foot down and not allow for any discrimination (Stonewall, 2011). Schlosser and Sedlacek, on the other hand, suggest taking a more idealistic approach. They think that incidences of hate crimes should be taken as learning opportunities. The goal should be awareness rather than punishment (Stonewall, 2011). Since Stonewall, movements to protect transgender rights have not gained much propaganda and usually consist of solving a particular federal case or pushing for more tolerance in general. Maybe once laws are more strictly enforced, and people don’t see gender dysphoria as a disorder, social movements can start getting real results.

by Zoe R

Love, A. (2010). “On Stonewall Riot Initiator Sylvia Rivera's Birthday, Her Words About Gay Oppression Against Trans People Still Ring True”. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ashley-love/on-stonewall-riot-initiat_b_634115.html.

Marine, S. (2011). “Stonewall's Legacy: Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Students in Higher Education”. ASHE Higher Education Report. Vol 37, Iss 4 pp 1-145.

Weiss, J.T. (n.d.). "Teaching Transgender: Global Social Movements based on Gender Identity". Retrieved from http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~jweiss/teachingtrans.htm