The oppression is both of a systemic and literal nature. In 2016 alone, twenty-four transgender people were killed.

In addition to recurring violence, the trans* community faces a variety of stressors including social support, housing, verbal harassment, and access to culturally fluent healthcare and mental health services. A report released by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Williams Institute analyzed 6,456 accounts of discrimination of transgender and gender non-conforming adults.  Sixty percent of respondents (3,874 people) whose doctor or healthcare provider refused to treat them had attempted suicide.

Systemic oppression is ever-present in the restroom, the department of motor vehicles, in the doctor’s office, in the courtroom, and in the classroom. This oppression attempts to strip away the humanity of individuals bravely expressing their authentic selves. And every day, these individuals continue to live their lives with dignity despite these very real obstacles.

We encourage state, local, territorial, and tribal health departments and STD clinics to actively create space for people who are of trans* experience. This approach may look like:

• having an option for gender-neutral restrooms. In absence of that – a policy related to persons being able to use the restroom of their choice
• conducting multiple trainings for staff regarding cultural relevance
• creating secret shopper programs to evaluate staff interactions with the community
• documenting preferred names and pronouns in charts, then using those names and pronouns
• actively recruiting workforce from the most-affected communities
• engaging local transgender advocacy groups and LGBTQ groups. These partnerships can inform clinic policies, provide trainings, share resources/materials, and be a referral partner.
• establishing a community advisory board to receive input from the community
• using intake forms and surveillance systems that capture different gender identities (using the recommendation of the two-question approach. For example¹:

2. What sex were you assigned at birth?
A. Male
B. Female
C. Decline to state

Available Resources:

• The Center of Excellence for Transgender Health at University of California, San Francisco has training modules available for providers: http://transhealth.ucsf.edu/video/story.html
• The National LGBT Health Education Center also has a series of modules, webinars, and publications, here.
• Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People, published by World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).
• Safer Sex for Trans Bodies, a guide recently published by Whitman-Walker Health and Human Rights Campaign. A great starting point for programs eager to provide trans-inclusive services.

Presently, we are asking ourselves where we are headed in a national movement for improved sexual health. To make a stronger impact in our field, we must continue to address systemic transphobia, homophobia, and stigma within our own agencies.

For more information on Transgender Day of Remembrance events, please visit https://www.glaad.org/tdor.