The Transgender Community

It is now the 21st century. A century where you would expect equality for all to exist, right? Unfortunately, that is not the case. People who are part of the transgender community face controversy on a daily basis. Some are refused job opportunities, not being able to use public restrooms, and even denied health insurance coverage for certain treatments! But why? Before moving forward, what does it mean to be transgender? Transgender is an umbrella term used to describe a human being who lives differently from the gender presentation and roles that he/she was assigned to according to society. This is not to be confused with transsexual! A transsexual person is someone who wishes to live as a different gender assigned at birth by seeking medical …show more content…
Many transgender people admitted to have experienced some form of harassment, violence, or economic discrimination. All of this including a street lifestyle, lack of jobs, and low self-esteem is linked to substance abuse, such as drugs and alcohol. Some transgender people, particularly transgender women, have done or do survival sex work due to poverty and are commonly abused (often physically) for it. It is also because of that that trans women are more likely to contract HIV than trans men. HIV can also be spread due to the sharing of needles during injection of hormones. It is also not uncommon to hear about transgender people performing “self-surgery” on themselves to remove certain parts of the body, which is a huge risk factor and can come with deadly …show more content…
The most common mental health concerns are depression, anxiety, feelings of suicide, and gender dysphoria. All of this can be linked to bullying (harassment in school), being physically or sexually assaulted, social stigma, and most importantly, non-accepting families. This could also lead to eating disorders. Many trans adolescents express dissatisfaction with their bodies and deal with disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. According to research, trans youth who live with accepting families live a happier and healthier lifestyle than those who have unaccepting families. When it comes to general health, trans men and trans women face a lot of discrimination. For trans men, it can be difficult for them receive breast, ovarian, and cervical cancer screening. For trans women, it can be difficult for them to receive prostate cancer and HIV/STD screening. Because of discrimination amongst many providers, trans people are less willing to seek medical/health care. They may go to the emergency room of a hospital instead of going to their general