Today, CNNMoney.com is featuring the voices of transgender people facing inordinate financial burdens due to unemployment, healthcare costs and homelessness, just because of who they are. In a video, CNN reporter Blake Ellis speaks to Rebecca Juro, a transgender woman who was dismissed from her job after beginning her transition. Rebecca has been unemployed for the last four years, despite applying for almost 100 jobs and having nearly 20 interviews. As the comprehensive report, "Injustice At Every Turn," released by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force has shown, transgender people grapple with an unemployment rate of 14 percent - double that of the national rate - and also experience high levels of employment discrimination and harassment.
In addition to the video and an accompanying article, CNNMoney.com also included a series of stories in which six transgender people from around the country discuss the obstacles they continue to confront while trying to support themselves. For Keisha Allen, a 45-year-old transgender woman of color in Chicago, the struggle to support herself began early in life at age 16, when she was kicked out of her home. Keisha has been homeless since, and has been rejected by countless employers in interviews for entry-level jobs when they realize her name does not match her ID. "And I believe it's because I'm a woman of color and a transgender woman of color," Keisha says.
Watch the the full video below and read more stories from transgender people confronted by financial hardships at CNNMoney.com.