Transgender 101

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Submissions, Comments,
Corrections, or Suggestions?

     Most people are completely unaware that it's still legal in the United States to discriminate towards groups of people. There are very few protections in the U.S. for transgendered people. In most states, it's legal to deny employment and housing to transgenders for the simple reason that they are transgendered. Very few lawyers will take up the cause of fighting for the rights of transgendered people too. So in the instance of blatant discrimination, most can't find anyone to take the case even if they want to fight it.

     There are currently only four states with complete statewide transgender explicit non-discrimination protections. They are California, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Rhode Island. There are also ten counties throughout the country that have protections as well as 57 cities. Aside from that, it's very legal to discriminate. We who live in this modern day society of ours often think we have grown past the bigotry and  prejudice of our predecessors, but it's not true. People can discriminate, and they do. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia still run rampant. Likely they will never be completely defeated. However, we can fight them by learning as much as we can. Ignorance is the real enemy. It's amazing what can happen with knowledge and an open mind.

    LGBT rights have been a big deal over the past year, and largly transgender has been sidelined. Many activist groups like the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition, the International Foundation for Gender Education, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force have tried to push for not only GLB rights but T rights as well. However, with gay marriage being such a hot issue, transgender rights have been largly ignored. Many legislators don't feel comfortable supporting something that's still considered a mental disorder by the DSM-IV. Hopefully the government will eventually come around.