Gender refers to the human social system of distinguishing individuals by sex in terms of roles, characteristics, behaviors, roles, appearances, and identities. Therefore, gender maps cultural norms and meanings onto human bodies. As such, every individual has an internal sense of the gender known as gender identity. Transgender is a term used to refer to people whose gender identities transgress established social norms. Transgender individuals include those identified as transsexuals, bi-gender, cross-dressers, androgynous as well as a growing number of individuals in the society who do not identify themselves as belonging to either gender (Benson, 2013). It is estimated that the number of transgender individuals in the United States range from 3 million to 9 million. Transgender Americans have families, live and work in every state. Transgender individuals are racially and ethnically diverse in the country. Moreover, the transgender people are becoming more visible in the society as well as popular culture.
Transgender people encounter various challenges in almost every aspect of their lives. The transgender people face significant hostility that the society associates with those who fail to conform to gender norms. Moreover, the transgender individuals undergo considerable difficulties associated with coping with their own feeling of difference. The powerful social stigma suffered by the transgender is worsened by the accompanying verbal harassment and physical violence. Racial and ethnic discrimination may accompany the social stigma faced by the transgender in the society. They experience dismissal from job, denial of services by police officers and medical emergency professional and eviction from housing. Moreover, restrooms have become popular sites of confrontation and harassment of transgender individuals to an extent access can be denied.
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Research Review
Research indicates that transgender people face considerable challenges from the society. They are uniquely at risk of adverse health outcomes because they are often denied appropriate medical and mental health care. Ignorance about and discomfort with transgender clients always lead to denial of basic services to the transgender people (Bess & Stabb, 2009). The transgender people require appropriate medical services to align the physical body with the experienced sense of self because there is sufficient evidence that majority of the transgender individuals who access appropriate medical care effectively achieve congruence and wellbeing (Newfield et al, 2006). Health insurance service providers discriminate transgender individuals hence making access to effective healthcare impossible. Therefore, access to transition-related medical services is limited to the privileged few who can afford the services. Such barriers to basic healthcare by transgender individuals contribute to lowered self-esteem and wellbeing. Moreover, such barriers may lead to posttraumatic stress and others may self-medicate through street hormones, which may further affect them negatively. Severe marginalization of transgender people and limited access to transition are responsible for the high rates of joblessness as well as disproportionately affecting people of color. Lack of employment among transgender people makes it more difficult for them to access basic medical care because they are left without health insurance cover.
Gender Identity Disorder, which is a diagnosis that is often required prior to providing a transition related health service has acted as a barrier to effective access to health care because it reinforces gender stereotypes. The diagnosis further interprets the realities of transgender conditions as mental illness. Medically assisted transsexual transitions are always labeled as reparative treatments, a fact which prevents insurance reimbursements for care. Mental health care providers and social workers have become barriers to effective access of health care by transgender people because they are believed to be providers of referrals for surgery and hormonal therapy. Such a fact may negatively affect the therapeutic relationship between the health care providers and the transgender clients (Bradford et al, 2013). In response to such a concern, several community-based urban clinics and individual healthcare providers have already developed practices and protocols that do not necessarily require Gender Identity Disorder diagnosis.
Transgender youth and children face serious harassment and violence in school environments. The transgender students, therefore, may fail to reach their potential or drop out of school due to insecurity or law self-esteem. The limited support resources for transgender children and youth leave them vulnerable to reparative treatments. There is no federal law that protects the transgender individuals from discrimination. However, several states as well as some local jurisdictions and employers have begun to enact laws to protect transgender people. The federal administrations and majority of the states require proof of genital modification before correcting the sex marker on passport (Bess & Stabb, 2009). Such a practice is inappropriate because it reinforces the popular myth that all transgender individuals should under reparative treatment regardless of their ability or need. As such, inaccurate identity documentation has always been a barrier to housing, employment, and appropriate services from gender-centric facilities.
California is one of the notable states in the US that have adopted transgender anti-discrimination laws. The laws have addressed the challenges faced by the transgender people ranging from housing, employment, public accommodation, insurance contract, hate crimes and education and school safety. The laws state that it is unlawful for any employer to refuse to hire an individual or discharge a person from employment on the basis of gender identity. The laws further prohibit discrimination of transgender people by owners of any housing accommodation. The laws also require that insurance companies should enter into contracts with transgender people without any form of discrimination. The laws also prohibit insurance companies from modifying the terms of their contracts with individuals on the basis of their gender identities. Furthermore, the California Student Civil Rights Act states that the State of California must afford all persons in public schools equal opportunities and rights irrespective of their gender identities.
Majority of institutional settings in the United States of America have always been hostile to transgender individuals, particularly those that are segregated by sex. Many of such institutional settings require transgender people to have undergone corrective genital surgery for them to be placed according to their gender identity. Gender-based dress codes have affected youth as they are often disciplined and ejected from facilities for violating such policies. Accessing sex-appropriate facilities in jails and prisons has been difficult for transgender people. Lack of culturally competent caregivers in residential and care facilities may make the lives of transgender individuals particularly the elderly, as they may be unable to advocate for themselves. Lack of well-trained service providers as well as mental health care providers makes it difficult to obtain culturally knowledgeable medical, legal, and advocacy services for the transgender people in the society. The backseat role in shaping the policies that affect the lives of transgender individuals is increasingly making such communities and individuals impatient.
The prevalence of inaccurate identity documents among the transgender people such as driver’s licenses, passports, and birth certificates have greatly complicated their lives. Inaccurate documentation can obstruct employment as well as travel. Moreover, such documents expose the transgender individuals to harassment, violence, job loss, refusal of service, among other associated problems. Changing such documents involve rigorous and expensive processes (Bess & Stabb, 2009). State and federal government policies impose burdensome and intrusive requirements prior correcting the documents of transgender people. Such policies require court orders and proofs of transition related surgery hence making it difficult for transgender people to obtain accurate and consistent identity documents. According to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 21% of transgender people that have transitioned to living in accordance with their gender identity have been able to have all their identity documents updated and one third of them had not updated any of their identity documents. Therefore, federal agencies should revise gender change policies by allowing specific mental health and medical providers to certify a gender change.
Transgender people also face a range of challenges when it comes to marriage and parenting. For instance, a transgender male may be denied a marriage license in states where same-sex marriage is illegal. Many courts have invalidated marriages involving transgender individuals making the lives of spouses difficult especially when one of the marriage partners dies. The employers may deny the wife of a transgender man benefits on the basis of the validity of the marriage. Moreover, transgender youth may face lack of support from their parents as a result of their gender identities. This may lead to homelessness and loneliness among such transgender youth. Some families may even subject their children to harmful conversion therapy in an attempt to change their gender identities. Therefore, it is necessary that states desist from using gender identity or sexual orientation as bases for denying child support, visitation rights, or custody.
The transgender people face immense problems while interacting with the criminal justice system (Benson, 2013). Transgender people, especially the low-income people as well as people of color face higher levels of policing and profiling. This leads to high levels of police harassment, violence, and imprisonment among the transgender individuals. Transgender people who are low income face frequent policing hence making them insecure and mentally disturbed. Moreover, the transgender people are more likely than the general population to face charges for crimes due to their lack of financial resources, lack of education and unemployment.
Discussion
Transgender individuals continue to experience discrimination, stigma, prejudice, and extreme hostility on a daily basis. Most members of the society fail to understand the profound discomfort the transgender individuals feel in trying to conform to the rigid gender roles assigned to them based on their physiology (Benson, 2013). Therefore, social workers should understand and appreciate the full range of differences that characterize humans. The social workers should explore the violation of the rights of transgender individuals, educate the public in a way that mitigates the stigma, and support the rights of the transgender individuals.
Social workers should adopt a nonjudgmental and affirming attitude towards gender diversity in order to provide maximum support and services to those individuals whose genders depart from the expected norm. The social workers should empower transgender people and help them discover their self-worth.
School should adopt curriculum policies that eliminate discrimination against transgender individuals. Schools should also provide equal opportunities to all students as well as effectively investigating issues of relevance to transgender population. Continuing education programs should be implemented in order to facilitate development of policies that are relevant to gender diversity in the society. Safe and secure environments should be provided at all levels of education that provide acceptance and understanding of self in which all youths are free to express their gender identity and obtain an education free from discrimination.
The government should implement laws that oppose all public and private forms of discrimination on the basis of gender identity. Moreover, it is necessary that states desist from using gender identity or sexual orientation as bases for denying child support, visitation rights, or custody. In terms of inaccurate documentation among transgender people, the federal agencies should revise gender change policies by allowing specific mental health and medical providers to certify a gender change.
References
Benson, K. (2013). Seeking support: transgender client experiences with mental health services. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy: An International Forum , 25, 17-40
Bess, J., Stabb, S. (2009). The experiences of the transgendered persons in psychotherapy: voices and recommendations. Journal of Mental Health Counseling , 31, 264-282
Bradford, J., Reisner, S., Honnold, J., Xavier, J. (2013). Experiences of transgender-related discrimination and implications for health. American Journal of Public Health , 103, 1820-1829
Newfield, E., Hart, S., Dibble, S., Kohler, L. (2006). Female to male transgender quality of life. Quality of Life Research , 15, 1447-1457
