March 31 is International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV), marking the 12th annual observance of a day that celebrates the resilience and achievements of transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people and raises awareness of transgender rights. Check out Amida Care’s videos celebrating the contributions of people of trans experience, and read the interviews here.

Progress in 2021

During the Trump administration, there were several attacks on LGBTQ rights, including a move last summer to erase health care protections against discrimination for transgender patients. In 2021, however, the country is once again moving in the right direction:

• • On President Biden’s first day in office, he signed an executive order undoing many of his predecessor’s actions and affirming LGBTQ rights under existing law in housing, education, health care and employment. He later signed an additional executive order restoring protections for transgender troops, reversing President Trump’s ban on trans people serving in the military. On the same day, the White House website was updated to allow visitors to specify which pronouns they prefer.
  • Late last month, the House passed the Equality Act, which would expand the 1964 Civil Rights Act and solidify President Biden’s executive order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This long overdue legislation will expand anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ Americans, ensuring that people can no longer be lawfully discriminated against in employment, housing, credit, education, and other vital areas of everyday life. To become law, the Act will have to be voted in by the Senate. Contact your senators today, and urge them to support the Equality Act.
  • Also in February, New York State repealed the long-problematic “Walking While Trans” anti-loitering law, which allowed police to use their discretion to interpret what constitutes loitering for prostitution. This discriminatory loitering statute was used to unfairly target and harass people of transgender experience, particularly transgender women of color, simply for existing.

  Going Forward

  Though there is reason to celebrate, there’s more to be done to ensure the rights and basic safety of transgender people in the U.S. There are ongoing health disparities among transgender people, as discrimination along with other socioeconomic inequalities often results in poor health outcomes:

  • Trans people face higher rates of unemployment (18% in New York State), and people of transgender experience are 2.4 times more likely to be living in poverty than the general population.
  • An alarming 61% of people of transgender experience in New York reported being mistreated by the police.

Transgender women – especially trans women of color – are more likely to be living with HIV and have lower rates of testing and treatment than other groups. Amida Care’s report Breaking Barriers to Transgender Health Care details these challenges and offers solutions.

Amida Care has long fought discrimination in health care and beyond for people of transgender experience. We applaud recent moves in the right direction, but there is more work to do to protect the health and well-being of our transgender members and of the trans community in general.

Resources

• Amida Care’s Guide to Transgender Resources and Services in NYC
• Amida Care’s Breaking Barriers to Transgender Health Care Report
• Trans Lifeline
• NYC Commission on Human Rights’ Gender Identity/Gender Expression Legal Enforcement Guide
• LGBT Bar NYC
• ACLU Trans Ally Tool Kit
• New York Trans Advocacy Group
• Translatinx Network
• The Anti-Violence Project