This summer, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) will launch their 2015 U.S. Trans Survey, the largest survey ever focusing on the lives and experiences of transgender, genderqueer, and non-binary people. This is the follow up to the 2011 National Transgender Discrimination Survey, the findings from which were released later that year in a report entitled Injustice at Every Turn. In this report, the National LGBTQ Task Force and NCTE found that transgender individuals were subject to alarming amounts of discrimination and harassment in nearly all aspects of life, ranging from discrimination in housing, employment, healthcare, education, and public accommodations among others.
The 2011 report consisted of statistics on the discrimination and harassment experienced by transgender people throughout the United States, alongside recommendations for improvement in each area in focus and personal anecdotes from transgender people on the discrimination and harassment they face. The report revealed a staggering 41% of respondents having attempted suicide at one point in their lives, compared to the 1.6% of the general population, and also found that their respondents sample was nearly four times more likely to be living with a household income of less than $10,000 per year compared to the general population. However, the report also highlighted the resilience of transgender people, despite the mass discrimination and harassment against transgender people in our society.
This survey is essential to pushing the transgender movement forward. At this time of unprecedented transgender visibility, transgender people must make vocal the struggles and hardships they face daily. This is again a chance to make the injustices that this community faces heard. The data from this survey will be available and used by community advocates, organizations, and researchers for years to come.
The 2015 U.S. Trans Survey will launch sometime this summer at ustranssurvey.org. In the meantime, the site has an option to notify you by email when the survey is available, as well as an option for you to promote the survey when it's available.