According to a study done by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, “81% of transgender adults in the U.S. have thought about suicide, 42% of transgender adults have attempted it, and 56% have engaged in non-suicidal self-injury over their lifetimes.” Now just sit and let that sink in. Hearing these statistics has made me truly consider the mental health of LGBT people and look at things from a very different perspective, and it should for you too.
For me, it’s personal. Having my brother in my life, I can't imagine a world without him. Knowing what he has gone through in his 27 years of life and the constant uphill battle he is facing, I am so incredibly grateful he is still here with me. He is surrounded by so many people that truly love and care for him, but unfortunately, not everyone has that kind of support system in their lives. Transgender individuals are much more likely to experience poor mental health in their lifetimes and that is profoundly impacted by homelessness, discrimination, and lack of access to gender-affirming care.
Everybody knows homelessness is an issue, but does everyone know that 1.6 million youths are homeless each year, and that 40% of them are a part of the LGBT community. These individuals are disproportionately being affected by homelessness, especially transgender people, who face widespread discrimination. It is found in their everyday lives by people who you would least expect, and sometimes those people you would never expect is your own family. Over half of queer youths would say that it’s not coming out that's the hardest, it’s what happens afterwards that scares them the most. I think for the most it is even more challenging coming from some sort of religious household. “Gay people should burn in hell!” is a common misconception that many christian people have when it comes to their beliefs. There is a verse called Leviticus 20:13, that in summary basically says that if a man lies with a man, it is looked down on and it is their own fault when they are put to death. But Christians like to pick and choose which verses they like to listen to, because in reality God loves everybody and accepts them for who they are.
Back on the topic of being kicked out, according to the Single Homeless project,
“Nearly one in four LGBTQIA+ young people who are kicked out feel they need to enter unwanted relationships to find a place to stay”. This scenario is just asking for a toxic relationship which is another factor that can lead to depression and anxiety, but this is also why we as a whole need to be better and more accepting of one another. Another aspect of transgender individuals being homeless is the discrimination they get from their workplace. They are more likely to be denied a job or to be fired from a job once the employer finds out that they are transgender. (Now isn’t that just something!) This leads to them having no job and not being able to pay for rent or a mortgage. Additionally, landlords are more likely to charge higher rates to transgender individuals or neglect to address repair requests and maintenance issues in their homes. This lack of support contributes to increased homelessness rates among transgender people, which are significantly higher compared to other groups.
Let’s not sugarcoat it—despite the so-called “progress” society loves to brag about, trans people are still getting a raw deal in nearly every corner of life. Grocery shopping? Buying a car? House-hunting? Anything you can think of, and when it comes to the workplace, it hits even harder. Going back to this topic, transgender people are very likely to either be fired from a job or rejected from a job. I know this personally because my brother has had both of these things happen to him when he was in the process of looking for a job, or when he is already in a job and has been there for weeks. It just seems to be a never ending cycle. Unfortunately, Issak has worked in Carpentry the last 8 years of his life, and the people that tend to work in that kind of setting are often all alike; very close minded, and conservative when it comes to anybody in the LGBTQ+ community. The real shocker is that the government is STILL letting trans workers down. “Despite the Supreme Court’s decision to extend federal protections to LGBTQ+ employees in 2020, along with the Equality Act by the House of Representatives in 2021, recent data reveals that 17 out of 50 states still maintain laws and policies that discriminate against transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) individuals in the workplace.”I was shocked and disgusted to learn that laws like this even exist anymore. It is 2024, not the 1800s, it is time to let these discriminatory laws go.
Ready for another barrier transgender individuals face? The lack of access to gender affirming care, which is so crucial for the mental health and well-being of the queer community.
Most people don’t even know what gender affirming care is, but here is a simple definition to make it easier for you to understand. It is the surgical procedure that alters a person’s physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble the look of the gender that they identify with. These procedures can include facial reconstruction, or a top or bottom surgery. Although, not everything is a surgical process though. It can also include hormone therapy or puberty blockers that will just delay the process of masculine or feminine characteristics. The individuals that undergo these procedures have reported to a much more suitable life and are very happy with the results. Letting individuals go through these surgeries allows them to physically feel like who they want to be. There are many studies that show that once undergone, it has reduced stress, anxiety and suicidal ideations and overall giving these individuals a better quality of life and happiness.
With all the uproar on this recent presidential election, the entire LGBTQ+ community is going to be affected greatly especially with Trump being in office. One of the biggest policies talked about within the Queer community is gender affirming surgery being banned to all adolescents and allowing hospitals to deny any type of Medicare or Medicaid to any individual that wishes to go through with the surgery. Many people argue that this policy is a good thing. They don’t want minors to be making these life changing decisions because they may be “too young” and they don’t know all of the full aspects of it. It’s almost as if people think that doctors are just handing out these surgeries to 8 year olds. That is FAR from the truth though if some people put in a little research instead of making assumptions. What many people don’t realize is that these surgeries are rarely, if ever, performed on adolescents under 12, before puberty even begins.
Some information that I found from the Harvard School of Public Health who did a study on this topic has found that, “no gender-affirming surgeries performed on TGD youth ages 12 and younger in 2019. This was expected, the researchers said, as current international guidelines do not suggest any medical or surgical intervention for TGD individuals prior to puberty. For teens ages 15 to 17 and adults ages 18 and older, the rate of undergoing gender-affirming surgery
with a TGD-related diagnosis was 2.1 per 100,000 and 5.3 per 100,000, respectively.” This just goes to show that not many adolescents are even going through with the surgery at that young of an age, and that the reason they want it banned is due to discrimination against the LGBT community and deep-rooted homophobia.
When transgender minors do decide to go through with any type of surgery or be put on hormones, it is considered lifesaving to those individuals. For most minors going through gender dysphoria, it isn’t just uncomfortable, it’s a mental health crisis with depression and anxiety taking a serious toll. Gender-affirming surgery can be a game-changer, giving them the confidence and sense of self they’ve been missing and making it easier to navigate a world that often feels like it’s not built for them.
Transgender individuals continue to face numerous challenges, from widespread discriminationto significant barriers in accessing gender-affirming care. These obstacles not only affect their
physical and mental well-being but also hinder their ability to live authentically and safely.
This highlights the urgent need for a change in the system. There needs to be more support
and inclusion that is targeted at the mental health of trans individuals that will help address the
stressors of everyday life. There is a serious demand to promote a better emotional well-being,
and social inclusion for the transgender community or the survival of the lgbt community is going
to suffer.
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