Shedding light on the meaning of transgender
Equal rights for the community have been a long time coming. What you can do to help
By D'laney Gielow
Published: Tuesday, February 22, 2011
http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/affiliates/the-protest/shedding-light-on-the-meaning-of-transgender-1.2476704The mention of LGBT rights evokes media buzzwords like Prop 8, the NOH8 Campaign, Don't Ask Don't Tell, the It Gets Better Campaign, etc. Yet the struggle for LGBT equality extends far beyond these hot-button issues. The T in LGBT face a unique set of challenges and prejudices too often ignored by mainstream culture.
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In 2005, Amnesty International shed new light on turbulent trans-police relations in their report Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct Against Gay and Transgender People in the U.S. The report highlighted patterns of systemic police abuses perpetrated against the LGBT community, particularly gender identity-based discrimination. Amnesty emphasized the profiling of trans men and women as sex workers; sexual, physical and verbal abuse of LGBT individuals by law enforcement; unlawful and degrading "gender check" searches and detention procedures; and a lack of sensitivity training and officer accountability within police departments as pervasive, yet unaddressed, national problems.
