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Transgender Adolescents Face
Discrimination, Violence by Alexis Ziebelman
Being anything that is not “normal” is
difficult, but during teenage years, it can
make life miserable. We live in a country
known for being the land of the free, but
even today, discrimination is present. The
judgment used to be directed towards
African Americans and immigrants,
especially in New York City. As the years
have passed though, the focus has now
shifted to those who are gay, lesbian, or
transgender.
In Florida, a teenager by the name
of Zikerria Bellamy experienced this
discrimination first hand. Six years ago, this
17 year old changed her gender from male
to female. Now, she is trying to get a job
at McDonald’s but has been unsuccessful
because of the prejudice towards
transgender individuals. In addition to
not getting the job, she had to deal with an
obscene message left on her voicemail. In
the message, (now up on YouTube) a man
uses a gay slur to describe why the fastfood
chain would never hire her. When she
showed up for an interview wearing a suit,
a manager saw her and simply laughed.
Finding work as a transgender can be
difficult. The New York-based Transgender
Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF)
says that nearly 50% of transgender people
in the US have been fired or not given a
job because of their transgender status.
There are very few laws in the US in place
protecting these people in the workplace,
which does not help the situation either.
In 2009, Governor Patterson helped to
expand antidiscrimination protections
to include transgender peoples, which is
a big step in their acceptance into state
policy. But New York is not the first state
to begin incorporating transgender into
its laws, in fact some claim it is behind.
Antidiscrimination laws have been
expanding to include gays and lesbians,
but transgender laws only began spreading
in 1975, beginning with Minneapolis. In
New York State, 300,000 residents identify
as transgender according to a survey
conducted by the State Department of
Health.
In 2008, a 15-year-old Californian boy
named Lawrence King who began crossdressing
and identifying himself as gay
in eighth grade, was shot in the head
in a classroom full of students. He was
assaulted because of his sexuality by his
classmates and declared brain dead after
the attack. 66% of gay and transgender
kids say they have been the victims of
homophobic remarks but about the same
percentage, (62%) also hear sexist remarks.
Transgender kids have to deal with the
normal harassment every kid goes though
as well—body image, weight, overall
appearance, etc.
jean mariano
It is devastating that tragedies like
this still occur. Being a teenager is hard
enough without the added pressure of
being labeled as different and unwelcome.
Studies show that society is progressing,
though; 57 % of gay and transgender
students are now comfortable raising gay
and transgender issues in a classroom and
71% have talked about these matters with
a teacher at least once. 57 % of students in
public schools now know at least one kid
who is gay and 20% have “a close friend”
who is gay. If these statistics, unimaginable
twenty years ago, continue to rise, then
the future generations will hopefully not
have to deal with the torment gay and
transgender kids today face.
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