Gender Discrimination In The LGBT Community

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Within the LGBT community, acceptance is not always equally dispersed among varying sexual orientations. Specifically, the label “transgender” has received a negative connotation as different, thus worse than being gay, bisexual, or lesbian. There arises difficulty when describing what a transgender person has to go through while coming out to their society and living with consequences that come with falling outside of the norms of American culture. Pursuing this further, last year, my best friend’s twin sister went through the process of coming out as male. Claire to Carson, girl to boy, few people’s worst nightmare and other’s pinnacle moment in life. He came out to his friends on Facebook on November 15, 2015, and explained how he put on …show more content…
Additionally, the federal government, on top of their community and families, continue to legally allow these actions to transpire. Several laws are currently in effect regarding gender equality, including: The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, The Fair Housing Act, and The Equal Pay Act of 1963. However, the U.S. government has denied these laws to transgender people, on the basis that they do not qualify as any specific gender (Gender Discrimination: Applicable Laws 1). By providing opportunities for others to infringe on these basic rights, the government implies to the transgender community that it lacks the ability to protect them. In addition, an issue that several members have struggled with is the inability to receive legal documentation specifying their desired gender. For instance, before 2013, an individual wishing to correct their gender on an official record to the applicable sex had to show evidence that they had surgically altered their bodies to match the physical attributes of the opposite sex in order to be approved. In 2013, however, the Obama administration changed this law, amending it to require only “appropriate clinical treatment” to be in progress (Eilperin 1). President Obama and his staff have made a multitude of legal alterations in favor of the …show more content…
This can be seen by looking at the historical trends in regards to the transgender community. For example, In the 1950’s, a magazine titled ‘Transvestia’ was published for the intended audience of heterosexual cross-dressing males (Currah 4000). Paisley Currah describes the editor of the magazine, Charles Prince, fired any homosexual or transsexual students from the company, and created a very clear boundary implying heterosexual cross-dressers deserved better than transgender and homosexual individuals. Currah maintains that this practice continues on within the company for the following forty years and still is the inspiration for such actions in cross-dressing clubs today (4000). Every year, transgender people are beaten, bullied, and even murdered by their community. 2003 and 2004 were two of the worst years ever in regards to hate crimes against transgender people, and that was only thirteen years ago (Lloyd 194). “The law must recognize that transgender people are human, vulnerable, and eminently worth protecting” (Lloyd 195). Carson, and many others like him, knows of the daily struggles that this community must deal with in order to even walk out of the house every day. Without the assistance of both the community and the government, transgender individuals will continue to live a life full of discrimination and

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