Discrimination can be defined as “ the unjust or prejudicial of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex” (Dictionary). The act of discriminating against a person due to the characteristics that they hold has been an adapted trait that the United States, as a whole, has adopted into society. The epidemic of discrimination has plagued society through occurrences that have left America in a pit of embarrassment against its own people. The United States needs to have an intervention on American people and its society due to the negative impact that discrimination has left on the transgenders.
As shown in a recent study, it was surveyed that 43.50% of people in the Pew Research Center have experienced discrimination from time to time or regularly (Lee 2019). As the transgender community becomes more widely accepted by people everyday the idea of marriage equality and protective laws becomes an even greater issue. In the modern day of binaries and gender roles, being indicated as “other” has often led to problems in the community, such as workplace discrimination, exclusion from sports that are gender specific, and interacting with narrow-minded individuals about where they stand sexualility wise. The urge for basic freedoms and liberties is a key driver that is wanted among the transgender community, due to the want to feel included in today’s society in the new age and not be left in the past with hate. The right for the transgender community in the modern day had been abandoned, and the people themselves with it, this in turn will leave this group in an oppressed state and leave them searching for themselves and their basic God given rights.
According to HeinOnline 8 million people that are in America identify as part of the transgender community, mostly those who are transgender, deal with a great amount of workplace discrimination than those of cisgender. Before laws were passed, it was legal in several states to not hire or fire a member of the transgender community, a basic right that should be given to anyone if they have the necessary requirements to get the job is taken because the employer discriminated against who they were. Discrimination in the workplace has been passed through history, although, there have been laws passed that protects against it. There is still a social acceptance among individuals that keep pushing the issue that workplace discrimination will always be prevalent. Studies have shown that several transgenders have had some type of workplace discrimination or harassment in the passed 5 years do to the way they identify (Sears). Although the new age is upon the United States, the past still seems to relive its most vicious moments.
Transgenders also face an assortment of discrimination from schools, such as being required to use the bathroom specific to them rather than the school recognizing what they identify as and gender specific sports. This is seen as an extremely demanding act as it draws questions. Rather than taking action to the discrimination given, schools prefer to use bathrooms assigned to one’s gender as well as genders being able to go in the locker room they identify as in sports. Which can cause emotional stress on a student who identifies as another gender but is seen by the school as opposite. Most transgender students use bathrooms/locker rooms to help signify that want for acceptance by the people around them, thus, using that as an outlet. While many people will not socially accept this, it is who they are. The “safe haven” for many kids has now become a constant battle of hide who you are or been hated for it.
The movement for transgender equality is solely based on the idea that even though some struggle with their identity they still need to receive the same treatment that their cisgender. This is normally rejected by opposers of the transgender rights, they claim that going to legislation on the issue would be an ambush on the personal and religious beliefs,”These laws are used to trump fundamental civil liberties such as free speech and free exercise of religion” (Anderson). Protective legislation is there to secure the rights of transgenders, who have been fault to the discrimination and some hate crimes through being protected by the law.
As shown in Obama’s “A More Perfect Union,” he talks of a nation divided because of the hatred that was being spread through our society and what we needed to do to fix the unity of the people to form a “more perfect union” of people. The discrimination that has plagued our society against the transgender community, because of the socially unaccepted thought of it has caused an oppressed group of individuals left to figure out where they should be left to identify.