Where have you experienced discrimination?

[Ev]

I was told that a gender fluid/genderless/androgynous person CAN be considered ineligable for SRS: if I want to get SRS I "more than likely" will have to stretch the truth once again about my gender identity and say "female" even though a part of me wants to say "androgynous."  The thing is I don't like my penis: it has little to do with "gender identity" for me.

So, I am going to have to say "female" to get SRS, which I am going to do.  "Tomboy" is what I tell them, as it is still "female" but covers enough masculine things to not really feel like a lie to me.

I had to "bend" for 25 years so what is one more "bend" to get what I need?

I did say that male/female doesn't matter to me so I guess "female" for the record it is.

[JessicaElle]

The only place i've ever recieved discrimination would be school.
I started my transition when i was 15 in my sophomore year of high school. I was told i couldn't use the girls restroom(i had to use the nurses restroom) and they tried telling me i should wear unisex clothes. But i laughed in their face and wore whatever i wanted

[Kylie18]

At every mental health facility I have ever been to. The second one was the worst. It was an all male facility for those who had commited a crime (or in my case court order for own safty) I was in there with rapists, armed robers, and violent convicts.

I had said over and over again that I was transsexual but they refused to transfer me to a coed facility or put me in isolation. Everyone found out about my gender identity and sexuality while I was there

Luckily for me I was an avid athelete in high school and wasn't on any meds that made me weak or slowed my mind down (as most others were) plus I managed to get protection from another patient who took a romantic intrest in me. Since we were both in good shape and no one else there was I managed to stay safe. (Thankfully)

Also I was not allowed to shave my beard for 20 days of my treatment and even after they gave me a razor I was only allowed to use it every 4 days at most. And they made me cut my hair that I had grown out to shoulder length.

To top it all off they never refered me to an edocrinologist despite my source of depression being gender identity disorder (which they had the nerve to place as a secondary diagnosis with the primary diagnosis being mood disorder not otherwise specified [what kind of BS diagnosis is that!?])

[BarkBark]

I have experienced discrimination at work sites, in school, in the doctor's office, in public facilities, and more. I can't name a type of place I have not been discriminated against in some manner. Usually what I get is bad or less-than treatment, but sometimes the "only" thing I get is hate language aimed at me.

[Jill F]

I was at a concert with my wife and we waited in line for beers.  My wife was served and I was refused for being "intoxicated".  I had only had one beer prior, as did my wife.  I'm guessing it was because I was trans.   Or maybe it was because he overheard me saying "coo coo ca choo" under my breath. 

He really did look like a walrus.

I just got in someone else's line, got my beer and gave him the finger.

[Eva Marie]

Hasn't happened to me...... yet...... after dozens of times being out as myself. I guess i've been lucky so far.

Sadly I know that it's inevitable because of small minded people

[Felix]

I still get it a lot. I thought everybody would be cool once I admitted it and transitioned (since I had gotten so much flak all the time for not being girly), but transition kind of threw me into a no-man's-land. Gay women are often welcoming, but it's a culture I don't really understand and don't have a lot of access to. Most lesbians aren't dating boys or raising kids. Gay guys are often really sweet until they find out I'm trans. Even then they are often super nice when we're in environments that aren't welcoming to either of us, but that's not a situation I seek out.

People of all genders and orientations are friendly when I go to civil rights gatherings or other places with similar politics. Sometimes I feel like a lucky token in those circumstances, like a win for people playing some kind of diversity bingo.

For everything else, discrimination seems to be the default setting. It's usually polite. People politely ask me which bathroom I use, or how I have sex, or what my "real name" is. People politely ask me to keep it a secret that I have a boyfriend, or they politely ask me never to show my face in their office again. I have a kid in public school and I use a number of government services, but I get pressured not to expose other people's children to who I am, and I get waivers (both informal and on paper) and requests to not attend certain events. Some people don't even judge me, they just politely express their crazy opinions about lgbt people without first checking to see if I'm in that group.

It's all over the place. I try to be mellow about it. I don't like being difficult or forcing extra paperwork or feelings or fears on anyone, but being mostly quiet and acquiescent erodes one's sense of self over the years. It is very hard to stay sane and healthy and also strike a balance between peace and respect. I feel like I usually have to choose one or the other.

[Shantel]

I was at a concert with my wife and we waited in line for beers.  My wife was served and I was refused for being "intoxicated".  I had only had one beer prior, as did my wife.  I'm guessing it was because I was trans.   Or maybe it was because he overheard me saying "coo coo ca choo" under my breath. 

He really did look like a walrus.

I just got in someone else's line, got my beer and gave him the finger.

LMAO Such a good sense of humor, you handled it perfectly per my own perspective!

[Destrie]

In High School I knew that there where people talking about me behind my back, and making fun of me for being feminine, I just ignored it for a while. Then it started to get out of control and I found out that it was just one or two people so I went to a teacher and she said that he said it was "his way of being friendly"....Really? I just thought he was an immature brat who had no brain. So it continued for a while until I went to another who got him removed from band and he got put in a resource class (basically where all the bullies go). 

[Amy1988]

I once got fired from a casino. They hired me but wanted my birth certificate. I had to explain the situation and why my birth certificate was under a male name. They tore up my papers on the spot and asked me to leave. Best not to concentrate on bad experiences though.

An employer is not legally entitled to see a birth certificate.  The only thing they are entitled to is a name SSN and address.  The HR manager where I work, who was an ass, demanded to see mine because he heard rumors that I was really male.  I told him that I was not legally required to provide one and that he already had the information he was legally entitled to and if he fired me I would sue.  He went to the regional HR manager, his boss, and was told to drop the issue and don't pursue it any further.  I work for a global wide company who sells consumer products all over the world and the last thing they want is to be branded a bigoted company.  BTW my real name is a unisex one so no one can guess my gender by name. 

[Shantel]

An employer is not legally entitled to see a birth certificate.  The only thing they are entitled to is a name SSN and address.  The HR manager where I work, who was an ass, demanded to see mine because he heard rumors that I was really male.  I told him that I was not legally required to provide one and that he already had the information he was legally entitled to and if he fired me I would sue.  He went to the regional HR manager, his boss, and was told to drop the issue and don't pursue it any further.  I work for a global wide company who sells consumer products all over the world and the last thing they want is to be branded a bigoted company.  BTW my real name is a unisex one so no one can guess my gender by name.

Good show Amy, sometimes you have to tell the Neanderthals where the rubber meets the road! 

[Amy1988]

Good show Amy, sometimes you have to tell the Neanderthals where the rubber meets the road! 

Thank you.  That HR person no longer works there. I don't know if he quit was fired or what happen to him. 

[Natalie]

Well, I've had to sue police departments (and won), filed EEOC complaints against employers, human rights complaints against my university (twice), filed a complaint against parking enforcement at my university, filed a complaint with the social security administration, sued my credit card company (and won of course) and even sued my landlord and I won there too. I've filed numerous complaints against police departments. One such incident, where I had a person anonymously threatening to murder me, the cop was incessant about whether my boobs were real or not or I if I had SRS; both of which were completely irrelevant. I've wrote a book about my experiences which document all the violence, prejudice and discrimination. I hope to have the the sociology and criminal justice department use it as a supplemental book to its violence against women course and sociology of gender. It's not just a memoir, it includes loads of research and statistics about violence, prejudice and discrimination against transgender women, specifically transsexual women in various aspects of life.