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Content Warning: violence against transgender people, brief mention of suicide.
Three hundred and twenty-one trans people were killed globally in 2023. Three hundred and twenty-one souls were taken from our world. According to the Trans Murder Monitoring research project, the vast majority of these people were trans women and transfeminine people of color.
In most US jurisdictions, these murders are effectively legal under the trans panic defense, which the LGBTQ+ Bar Association defines as “a legal strategy which asks a jury to find that a victim’s gender identity is to blame for the defendant’s violent reaction, including murder.” The perpetrators of this violence are able to commit these crimes with impunity simply because the victim is transgender.
Trans youth have reason to fear they will not see adulthood. With the murder rate of transgender people being so high (four times as likely as cisgender people), and the suicide rates of trans people being highest among transgender youth, it can be challenging to find hope for the future as a trans person.
Rajee Narinesingh, a trans woman and a Floridian activist and actress, says that seeing trans elders can show younger trans people that they do get to live that long, that they can have a long life like their cis counterparts. However, she also fears for her future as anti-trans legislation goes into effect.
This should not be the case. Trans people should not have to worry about if they will have the liberty of growing older.
Additionally, this fear destroys our mental health. According to a report by Data For Progress, 79% of transgender adults said that recent anti-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric have negatively impacted their mental health. Furthermore, 68% of trans adults fear that using a public restroom will result in discrimination or harassment.
These statistics are especially alarming when compared to the polls conducted of their LGBQ+ counterparts. While 37% of all LGBTQ+ adults say their quality of life has decreased, 65% of transgender adults say the same. Moreover, 58% of trans adults have worsened mental health due to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, compared to just 17% of LGBQ+ adults who are not transgender. This impact is especially pronounced among youth (29%) and young adults (26%). Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation hurts everyone, but especially young trans people.
Many people ask me, “Why are you so political?” And I answer, “Because I have to be.” My interest in politics and government is not my own doing. It is not for fun or purely because I find it interesting. It is to protect myself and fight to keep the few rights I still have. No one should have to worry that the politicians they elect will actively harm them, but trans people do not choose to be politicized. It is done to us.
Ultimately, we deserve to live long and prosperous lives, where we see our elders and our peers grow old, and where we don’t have to fight for our right to stay alive. Trans people are under attack, but there is still time to fight. Attend a local march for trans rights, donate to trans-rights organizations, and give trans people the space to be wholly and truly themselves safely.
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