Black and Transgender: Still on the Margins

[Natasha]

Black and Transgender: Still on the Margins

http://www.theroot.com/views/black-and-transgender-still-margins
7/10/13
By: Edward Wyckoff Williams

(The Root) -- Following the recent Supreme Court decision declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, President Barack Obama's embrace of marriage equality and the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell," gay Americans are experiencing their very own civil rights era. But the struggle isn't over, and there are forgotten faces among the jubilant crowds: transgender Americans in particular and especially those of color.

Employment and housing discrimination remains a daily hurdle for transgender people -- who are often without the legal protections necessary to defend themselves. One in five transgender Americans have experienced homelessness because of discrimination and rejection by family. What's worse is that institutions designed to help also discriminate: Twenty-nine percent of homeless transgender people report being turned away from shelters because of their gender status.

[Jess42]

This may be just me but it does seem that we are left out of the equation more often than not. Don't ask don't tell? We should be able to serve with the same consideration as other females in the military, ie keeping long hair and jewelry consideration. Not necisarily combat conditions but support units in the rear. The reason I say this is that there are a lot of really bad things that could be done to us in a POW setting in which rape or death wouldn't even compare. It also seems like the restroom debate isn't a strong or loud as the marriage debate. I am white and transgender and can only imagine the double discrimination.

[Bookworm]

Only time will tell

[fatty]

It must be awful to be black and transgender. You'd be totally ostracised from your people.

[Jamie D]

What part of "All [mankind] are created equal" don't they get?