2015 US Trans Survey Results Being Released Today

The results from the largest transgender survey ever done are going to be released at noon CST today.

In an event that will be livestreamed from the National Press Club in Washington DC, the report and results from the 2015 US Trans Survey will be discussed as part of a launch panel discussion from 1-2 PM EST.

With 28,000 respondents ( and in case you're wondering, I was one of the people who took part in filling it out) , it is the largest trans survey compiled to date, and like its predecessor, the 2011 NTDS, will probably become the go to document for stats about the trans community.

If you want to peruse the report and executive summary from the 2015 US Trans Survey, it's available at this link in English and in Spanish.

2015 US Trans Survey Report Release Event Coming December 8

I'm eagerly anticipating an event that is going to take place at the National Press Club on December 8 .
The report from the 2015 US Trans Survey will be released on that date, and it is the larges trans survey ever conducted to date with over 28,000 participants  

While trans people have been getting increasing attention in the media, we still need data about our community to educate advocates, the media, policymakers, educators and legislators about our lives, and this USTS  is going to become like the 2011 'Injustice At Every Turn survey an important tool in backing up our policy concerns with data.

It is also being released at a crucial time in our community's history with an administration coming in that will be the polar opposite of the trans friendly Obama Administration.

The event will be livestreamed starting at 12 PM CST and you'll be able to  watch it courtesy of this link. 

Preliminary US Trans Survey Data On Trans Bathroom Experiences

The US Trans Survey (USTS) was conducted in English and Spanish over four weeks in August-September 2015.  It is the follow up to the 2008-2009 National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS) in which 6,456 people responded to the questions in it. and the data from the often quoted survey was released in 2011.

The NTDS because it has been quoted by media sources (including this blog) over 15,000 times has been a game changer in terms of how the public and policymakers understand the challenges that US transgender people face.

The USTS, with 27,715 adult respondents is now the largest survey of transgender Americans ever conducted.  While the full results of the survey will be released later this year, enough of it has been compiled so that we can get snapshots of the data.

Seeing that our conservafool opponents are attacking our community based on the debunked bathroom predator lie, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is releasing the preliminary data covering the experiences of trans people in the bathrooms to highlight how critical and necessary it is for trans people to use bathrooms that match their gender identity.

The link to it is here.  The rest of the USTS data will be released later this year.

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59% of respondents reported they have in the last year avoided bathrooms because they feared confrontations in public restrooms at work, schools or in other places.

12% reported they have been attacked, harassed or sexually assaulted in a bathroom in the last year.

31% have avoided drinking or eating so that they did not need to use the restroom in the last year.

24% reported that someone told them they were using the wrong restroom or questioned their presence in the restroom in the past year.

 9% reported being denied access to the appropriate restroom in the past year.

9% reported having a kidney or urinary tract infection, or another kidney related medical issue from avoiding restrooms in the last year.

Secretary Clinton, Where You At On Trans United Fund's Trans Issues Survey?

Back in February I wrote a post in which I proudly stood up and endorsed Sec. Hillary Clinton for president in advance of the March 1 Texas presidential primary.

I did so because I believed and still believe that she is the best qualified person left in the running for the most important office in our country.   It is also because of some actions done for trans people while she was Secretary of State in terms of the June 2010 policy change that allows trans people to get US passports with a correct gender marker and without genital surgery.   I also believed she would be the best person left in the race to continue President Obama's legacy as the best president ever when it comes to trans rights issues.

I took a lot of intense criticism from Sanders supporters for that endorsement, but  as a longtime trans community leader, I'm not afraid to make unpopular calls when they are in the best interests of my community.  

The wisdom of that endorsement was validated as she overwhelmingly won Texas, swept the South and other diverse states in our country and garnered over 11 million votes of Democrats while doing so.

.I'd like to point out, as you probably aware of because of the Trans United For Hillary group and this section of your campaign website, that some of those 11 million people who proudly voted for you are transgender Americans.

Secretary Clinton is on the verge of making history as the first female candidate to clinch the Democratic nomination and become a major party candidate for president, and I congratulate her and the campaign staff for that historic accomplishment.

But what I am concerned about is why her campaign, as it shifts to what is certain to be a hard fought fall campaign against Donald Trump (ewwh), has been reluctant to fill out the Trans United Fund survey as the Sanders campaign did. . We know why Donald Trump won't do so

We are in a moment in which the Republican Party, fundamentalists, conservative organizations and even the Ku Klux Klan are making it clear for various reasons they oppose civil rights for trans people, and are gleefully attacking transgender people's humanity as they do so.

It is also the time in American history in which a diverse group of trans Americans have visibility at levels we haven't seen since Christine Jorgensen stepped off the plane at JFK from Denmark in February 1953.

This is a time of heightened interest and support for trans people, and I appreciate the fact the Secretary has mentioned transgender Americans in some of her stump speeches.  But what we need to know as we approach a high stakes election in November is will Secretary Clinton's deeds for trans Americans match or exceed her words?

That's why Trans United Fund sent that survey, because we need an honest answer to that question that we can tell our trans constituency we are charged with representing on the national political stage.

We trans people of color also need to know that answer, because the quality of our lives for the next four years literally hangs on whether you or Donald Trump succeed the best president ever on trans issues on January 20.

As a unapologetically Black trans person who lives in Texas, The TUF survey is information I and others will consider vital when it is time for us to ponder who to vote for in the remaining primaries and the fall election.   Since this survey was put together by a diverse group of trans people, it will help us determine where you stand on a broad range of issues that affect our diverse trans community.

So please take the time out of your busy schedule to complete the TUF Presidential Candidate Survey

I live in a Republican run Texas that seems to be hellbent in becoming the undisputed champion of peddling anti-trans hatred.  Our GOP dominated legislature being out of session until January is probably the only thing that kept them from following North Carolina down the foolish path of enacting unjust HB2 style legislation that will ruin my home state's economy.

I and my trans siblings need to unequivocally know that a President Hillary Clinton will have my back, especially since I'm painfully aware that my GOP governor, lieutenant governor, my US senators and attorney general have made it clear they won't.  I need to know Secretary Clinton, that should you become the next president of the United States, that you will be a drum majorette for justice.

I need to hear your voice Secretary Clinton on the issues of importance to my trans siblings. Our trans parents and our allies need to hear your voice on the human rights issue of our time, and where you stand on the civil rights of transgender Americans.

And we need to know via the Trans United Fund survey, what you will do to protect and defend those human rights..

Last Day Of Positively Trans Survey

If you're an HIV + trans or gender variant person and haven't taken this groundbreaking survey yet, better get moving on it.

Today is the last day you can take the survey that it is hoped will provide a clearer picture of the needs of our trans and gender family living with HIV and AIDS and drive policy better calibrated to their needs.

The survey is available in English and Spanish, and once taken, you can also  get yourself entered in a drawing for the eight Visa gift cards that will be given away valued at $250, $100, or $50 dollars.

Without the needed data, you don't exist to government agencies, the government and funders, so if you haven't done so, please take a moment to click on this link and complete the survey.

Clock's Ticking On The 2015 US Trans Survey

If you haven't taken the 2015 US Trans Survey, are living in the US, and you are trans, non binary or genderqueer, you have until midnight September 21 to do so.

Over 6500 people nationally took the 2008-2009 survey, and the data it produced as compiled in the 2011 Injustice At Every Turn report not only painted a stark picture of the state of the trans community at that time, there were enough trans people of color who took it so that the data could be broken down by ethnicity and states.

I use it from time to time in my blog posts, and it has also helped trans advocates, advocacy organizations, our allies and people in academia push for policy changes and laws that have benefited all trans persons in the US.

So if you haven't done do, I'm encouraging you to do so before the deadline.  I'm also encouraging as many trans people of color as possible to also take the US Trans Survey so that we have more solid data about what ails our communities and frankly, so our voices are heard loud and clear when the compilation report for this survey comes out.

The survey is available in English and Spanish, so surf on over to US Trans Survey.org to complete it before the upcoming September 21 deadline.

Positively Trans Survey Home Stretch

If you are a trans or non gender conforming person who is HIV+ or know someone who is a trans or NGCP person who is HIV+ , please take a moment if you haven't done so already to either take the first ever Positively Trans Survey yourself or encourage that person to do so.

The survey is anonymous, available in English and Spanish, takes 20 minutes to complete and seeks to hear about the experiences of HIV+ NGCP and trans people with the health and legal systems in the US.
 

In addition to help getting a clearer picture of the HIV?AIDS landscape as it applies to trans and non gender conforming people, if you take the survey you can also enter a drawing for one of eight VISA gift cards ranging from $25 to $100 dollars.   .

You can click on this link to take the survey,

The things I hope happen as a result of this Positively Trans Survey is not only do we get a clearer picture and more solid info about HIV +  trans and non gender conforming people, it becomes the catalyst to help drive policy changes that will help our trans and NGCP HIV+ community community from the local to the federal level. .

But if you haven't taken the time to do so, please do so ASAP.

US Trans Survey Goes Live Today

The 2015 edition of the US Trans Survey, the largest one devoted to chronicling the lives of trans people in the United States, will go live today.  

I hope you are planning on taking time out of your busy lives to complete it, because it is critical to not only painting an accurate statistical profile of our community,data from the 2011 one has been used to advance our trans human rights movement and pass legislation based on it.

It has also been used by people in the policy, making, advocacy, and the general public to make the human rights case for our community, and we need more than the 6700 people who took it last time.  

We need people from all 50 states to participate and especially trans communities of color to do so.   In Houston we will have an event on August 22 to ensure that as many of our trans peeps in the Houston area get heard and also ensure that when it's later broken down for state by state numbers, we're represented in those stats.

To take the survey, go to this link.

TransGriot Note:  Took the survey, and I estimate it took me about 1.5 hours to complete.   But that 1.5 hours out of my day is a small price to pay for the advancement of our human rights movement.

2015 US Trans Survey Launches August 19

When the National Transgender Discrimination Survey launched in 2011 and its findings were ensconced in a report entitled Injustice At Every Turn, little did the almost 7000 people who filled out that survey in 2008-2009 realize that their answers would help be a catalyst for change and drive the trans movement forward.

I used that sobering data repeatedly when it was time to lobby or write articles for the blog, and the 2011 NTDS survey served as a snapshot of the US trans community that has had far reaching policy implications.

Now NCTE is gearing up to do so again with the 2015 version of what has now been renamed the US Trans Survey.   It kicks off August 19 with the goal of getting 20,000 trans people to take the survey.

I'm urging all trans folks, and especially trans people of color around the country to take the time to fill this out because it is that important.   If want data about the lives of trans people of color to show up in the subsequent reports that will be generated from this survey, then we need to represent and do so.

The data collected in the US Trans Survey will go toward pushing policymakers, organizations, and lawmakers to do the right thing for trans Americans, and help researchers compile that 2015 snapshot of trans Americans we'll be relying on for that work of advancing our human rights cause until it's time for the next one in 2019..

So when August 19 gets here (and that date is rapidly approaching), let's at least double the amount of people taking this year's survey, and let's also strive to get participation in all 50 states so we can get statewide data to peruse for your various states as well.

But in order for that to happen, you must participate. You can hit the link at ustranssurvey.org to do so when it goes live, and make sure you share it with other trans people in your influence circles.

Positively Trans Survey Launched

Thanks to the Transgender Law Center, a groundbreaking survey was launched today that has the goal of assessing the needs of our trans community members living with HIV.

It is a first-of-its-kind community-led needs assessment to examine the legal and policy landscape as experienced by transgender women, men, and gender non-conforming people living with HIV/AIDS across the country. The survey is open for responses in English and in Spanish.

“As transgender people living with HIV/AIDS, we are capable of forming our own network, telling our own stories, and developing our own strategies for advocacy,” said Cecilia Chung, Senior Strategist at Transgender Law Center and project lead for Positively Trans. “This survey is a groundbreaking opportunity to not only highlight our needs, but also our resilience when there are few resources available. We are ready to offer policy makers, providers and legislators our own solutions.”

The survey was developed in partnership with the project’s nine National Advisory Board members from across the country — Arianna Lint, Channing-Celeste Wayne, Dee Dee Chamblee, Milan Sherry, Octavia Lewis, Ruby Corado, Tela Love, Teo Drake, and Tommi J. Luckett — the majority of whom are trans women of color living with HIV.

“This survey is for us and will not be done without us,” said T+ National Advisory Board member Tiommi P. Luckett of Arkansas. “Every trans woman and man living with HIV should fill out this survey because we need people to know that we’re here, and that we can develop our own solutions and strategies to take care of ourselves.”

So if you are a trans person living with HIV, this survey is for you.   Please take a moment to fill it out and let your voice be heard.   We advocates and allies need to have solid data and statistics on trans people living with HIV that we can take to federal, state and local governmental officials, provider organizations and policy makers to help make a reality the solutions and strategies you come up with.

Here's the Positively Trans survey link, available in English and Spanish.   


TransGriot Update: Participants in the Positively Trans Survey have an opportunity to enter a drawing in which 8 people will receive a Visa Gift card worth either $250, $100, or $50.

US Trans Survey Coming This Summer

The National Transgender Discrimination Survey that was conducted in 2010 as a joint project of the Task Force and NCTE it the largest survey ever conducted on transgender discrimination,

It was subsequently released in the 2011 Injustice At Every Turn report was not only groundbreaking, it has been the gift that keeps on giving in terms of trans advocacy work.

There were 6450 respondents that took part in the original survey, and the link to the 2011 survey on the Task Force website has been accessed more than 15,000 times by advocates, academics, media and policymakers.   It has been broken down into 24 state profiles, including Texas. I've referred to those stats generated in the 2011 report in numerous blog posts and when doing lobbying or advocacy on behalf of the community.

It was also great to know that enough trans people of color took the NTDS to come up with statistical breakdowns in the African-American, Latin@, Asian-Pacific Islander communities.

And now, renamed the US Trans Survey, will be conducted during the summer of 2015 and subsequently every five years to take the pulse of the trans community.   

And when it happens, we need in Trans World to double the over 6450 respondents that took part in the original survey and get enough participation so we can get statewide data for all 50 states..

We also need to make sure we get increased participation from trans communities of color so we get even better statistics that we can use for the next five years.

TBLG Youth Of Color Survey About LGBT Movement

The negative way some of my haters bump their gums about the subject, it's only Moni talking about and calling out the lack of intersectionality and diversity in the LGBT movement. 

Y'all can keep hatin' because I'm not going to stop talking about the subject until something is done to fix the problem.  

Besides I'm not the only person in Black trans, bi and SGL World complaining about the issue.  Other peeps who look like me inside and outside our community are talking about it, and you ignore this discussion at your political peril.

There was an interesting NewsOne discussion I was sent a link to by one of my regular readers about a recently compiled report by the Black Youth Project entitled  Moving Beyond Marriage: What LGBT Youth Of Color Think About The LGBT Movement

A survey of 1500 youth between the ages 18-30 was recently conducted during June 2014.  The BYP's main findings in the report are as follows:

• More Black (80.2%) and Latino (74.9%) youth believe the marriage equality movement has taken too much attention  away from other important LGBT issues compared to white youth (64.0%).

• More Black youth (58.0%) believe that LGBT issues in communities of color are not well-represented by mainstream LGBT organizations than Latino (45.9%) and white youth (42.7%).

• More than a third (35.0%) of Black youth reported that HIV/AIDS is the single most important issue for LGBT organizations to address. Latino youth reported that bullying (20.1%) is the most important issue, while white youth (21.3%) reported that same-sex marriage is the most important issue.

• Young people of color are more supportive of policies that would provide sensitivity training for police around transgender issues (77.8% and 73.2%, respectively) and require health insurers to provide coverage for transgender health issues (64.5% and 65.8%, respectively) than white youth (66.2% and 56.3%, respectively).

The NewsOne discussion about it facilitated by Roland S. Martin featured Jasmyne Cannick, Cleo Manago, and Terrance Laney of BlackYouth Project





This survey documents that Black and Latino LGBT youth have a very different perspective about what issues this LGBT movement should be focusing on. 

We'll see if anyone's paying attention  

Trans Latino/a Discrimination Report Released

The Injustice At Every Turn report broke down just how badly transpeople were discriminated against in the United States. 

When they took a look at the numbers for trans African-American respondents they were even more sobering.  They served as a wake up call to the cis African-American community and the advocacy organizations that serve us


The Task Force-NCTE survey in conjunction with LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens, broke down the the 6,456 people who took the Injustice At Every Turn survey in relation to the responses of the 402 Latino/a trans people or Latino/a multiracial folks who took it.  People who identified as Black and Latino/a were also included in this survey as well.  332 of the respondents were US citizens while 56 of them were non-citizens.  The report is also available in English and Spanish versions.

Key Findings:

*As with African-American trans respondents, the Latino/a trans respondents found that the toxic mix of anti-transgender bias and persistent structural and individual racism aimed at Latino/a people was devastating as well.   The immigrant respondents were even more vulnerable to the anti-trans discrimination.

*Latino/a transpeople often live in extreme poverty, with 28% reporting an income of less than $10,000 a year.  It's double the 15% rate of trans people of all races, over five times the 5% rate of the overall Latino/a community and seven times the 4% rate of the general US population.   The rate for Latino/a immigrant respondents was 43%.

*Like their African-American trans counterparts, Latino/a transpeople were also affected by HIV in devatsating numbers.  One in twelve Latino/a respondents (8.44%) were HIV positive and an additional 10.23% reported that they didn't know their status..

That compares to just 2.64% for transgender respondents of all races, .08% for the general Latino/a population and .0.60%.for the general US population.   In the Latino/a immigrant respondents the rate was 23.08%.

Education

*A whopping 77% of the trans Latino/a respondents reported harassment. in K-12 settings.  36% reported physical assaults and 13% sexual assault.   The harassment that trans Latino/a experienced was so severe 21% of the respondents reported it led them to leave school.  9% of the respondents were expelled due to bias. 


*Those who experienced harassment and abuse by teachers in K-12 settings also showed the same dramatically worse health and other negative outcomes vis a vis their classmates who didn't experience such abuse.   Those who suffered peer harassment and abuse also suffered the same highly damaging affects according to the survey.

Employment Discrimination

*Latina/o trans people experienced a 20% unemployment rate, higher than the overall trans sample of 14% and nearly three times the 7% rate rate of unemploment for the general US population at the time th survey was conducted.

*26% of Latino/a trans people lost a job due to anti-trans bias and 47% were not hired for a job due to bias.  The job loss rate for Latino/a trans immigrants was 42%.

*54% of Latino/a trans people were harassed, 16% were physically assaulted and 14% were sexually assaulted in workplace settings.   For the trans latino/a immigrant respondents, the numbers were higher.  57% of them reporting being harassed, 47% were physically assaulted and 38% of them sexually assaulted in workplace settings.
   
*34% of the Latino/a trans respondents reported that they had been compelled to sell drugs or do sex work at some point in their lives. 

Housing Discrimination and Homelessness

*Latino/a transpeople reported various forms of direct housing discrimination..  29% reported having been refused a home or apartment due to bias and 15% reported being evicted due to bias

*For trans non-citizen Latino/a respondents 46% reported being refused a home or apartment and 26% were evicted. 

*27% of trans Latino/a respondents reported they had experienced homelessness at some point in their lives, nearly four times the general US population rate of 7.4%   

*In terms of home ownership, 15% of Latino/a transpeople are less likely than respondents of other races to own homes.   It compares to 32% of the general transgender population, 67% of the general US population and according to HUD, minority home ownership nationally is at 49.7% at the time the survey was compiled.

Discrimination In Health Care

*Latino/a trans respondents health outcomes reflect the appalling effects of social and economic marginalization combined with higher rates of HIV infection, smoking, drug and alcohol use, and suicide attempts vis a vis the general population.

*27% of Latino/a transpeople reported being refused medical care due to bias.

*36% of Latino/a trans respondents reported having postponed medical care while they were sick or injured due to fear of discrimination.

*47% of Latino/a transgender respondents reported having attempted suicide, compared to the 41% for transgender people of all races and 1.6% for the general US population.

*Nearly one in ten Latino/a transgender respondents (8.44%) reported being HIV-positive with an additional 10.23% reporting they didn't know their status.   That compares with the 20% of Black trans respondents who reported being HIV positive with 10% not knowing their status..  

PRRI Survey Shows Americans Overwhelmingly Support Trans Rights Coverage

TransGriot Note: Wow!  This PRRI survey is wonderful news.

Washington, D.C. - Overwhelming majorities of Americans, across the political and religious spectrum, believe that transgender people should have the same general rights and legal protections as other people, a new survey finds.    

The August and September Religion and Politics Tracking Surveys were conducted by Public Religion Research Institute and released amid the increased attention towards transgender issues following Chaz Bono’s appearance on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. The combined surveys constitute one of the first independent studies of attitudes on transgender issues and Americans’ knowledge of transgender identity.

“Three out of four Americans say Congress should pass employment nondiscrimination laws that protect transgender people,” said Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute. “This strong support is also broad, persisting across party lines and the religious spectrum.”

Approximately three-quarters (74%) of Americans also favor Congress’ recent expansion of hate crimes legislation to protect transgender people. Additionally, the survey found that roughly two-thirds of Americans both report being well informed about transgender people and issues, and generally understand what the term “transgender” means, the new survey finds.

“To explore whether Americans know what the term ‘transgender’ means, we allowed them to define ‘transgender’ in their own words,” said Daniel Cox, PRRI Research Director. “More than two-thirds of Americans were able to give an essentially accurate definition of the term ‘transgender’ without any assistance.”

Among the Findings:

Overwhelming majorities of Americans agree that transgender people should have the same general rights and legal protections as others.

• Approximately 9-in-10 (89%) Americans—including strong majorities of all religious and partisan groups—agree that transgender people deserve the same rights and protections as other Americans.

Approximately three-quarters of Americans both say Congress should pass employment nondiscrimination laws to protect transgender people, and favor Congress’s recent expansion of hate crimes legislation to protect transgender people.

• Three-quarters (75%) of Americans agree that Congress should pass laws to protect transgender people from job discrimination. This support persists across the political and religious spectrum.
• Approximately three-quarters (74%) of Americans also favor Congress’ recent expansion of federal hate crime laws to include crimes committed on the basis of the victim’s gender, sexual orientation or gender identity, compared to only 22% who oppose.

Approximately two-thirds of Americans both report being well informed about transgender people and issues, and generally understand what the term “transgender” means.

• Two-thirds of Americans agree that they feel well informed about transgender persons and issues, while 3-in-10 disagree.
• In order to determine whether Americans understood the term “transgender,” PRRI conducted a follow-up survey in September 2011 that asked respondents to report what the term “transgender” meant to them in their own words. Among the 91% of Americans who report that they have heard of the term transgender, 76% give an essentially accurate definition. Thus, overall, more than two-thirds (69%) of Americans are able to identify what the term “transgender” means without any assistance.
  
  
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  Both the August and the September Religion and Politics Tracking Surveys were designed and conducted by Public Religion Research Institute. Results of the August survey were based on random digit dial telephone survey of 1,006 adults conducted between August 11, 2011 and August 14, 2011. Results of the September survey were based on random digit dial telephone survey of 1,013 adults (301 were reached by cell phone) conducted between September 14, 2011 and September 18, 2011. The margin of error for both surveys is +/- 3.0 percentage points.
  Public Religion Research Institute is a non-profit, nonpartisan research and education organization dedicated to work at the intersection of religion, values and public life.