Transgender: Homelessness & HIV
Transadvocate contributor: Cristan
http://www.transadvocate.com/transgender-homelessness-hiv.htmI know someone who was kicked out of her family's home because she was trans. When she was on the streets, she went to the only place she knew would be welcoming to someone like herself: a gay bar. When she got there, a man let her know that she could stay the night at his place... if she agreed to have sex with him. Until that night, she had never had any sexual relationships... exchanging sex for housing would become her first experience.
Unfortunately for her, he didn't tell her that he was HIV+. Today, she is housed, has a high T-Cell count and an undetectable viral load. She's housed through a program that is funded to house transgender people – the first one of its kind funded by the federal government.
NOTE: HIV infection rate among the homeless was 22.11%. Became Homeless: n=6,450 transgender people, IAET, 2011
