Print      
Survey finds pervasive bias against transgender people
By David Crary
Associated Press

NEW YORK — The largest-ever survey of transgender Americans paints a grim picture of pervasive discrimination and harassment, to the point that many of them attempt suicide at some point.

Released on Thursday by the National Center for Transgender Equality, the survey assesses input received in 2015 from 27,715 respondents from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and three US territories. The largest previous transgender survey, conducted by the center and a partner organization in 2008-09, had 6,450 responses.

There have been some important gains for transgender rights in the years between the two surveys, but the new survey showed little or no improvement in terms of transgender people’s day-to-day experiences with bias.

One finding remained virtually unchanged from the earlier survey: 40 percent of the respondents said they had attempted suicide at some point. Researchers have estimated that the overall attempted suicide rate in the United States is about 5 percent.

Another notable finding: 59 percent of survey respondents said they have avoided using a public restroom this year because they were afraid of confrontations or other problems. About one-third said they limited the amount that they ate and drank to avoid using a restroom.

‘‘Discrimination and violence threaten transgender people’s ability to have even the basics: food, a place to sleep, or a job,’’ said Mara Keisling, executive director of the national center. ‘‘This survey demonstrates that there is a lot of work ahead to achieve simple parity and full equality for transgender people.’’

According to a recent estimate by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, there are about 1.4 million transgender adults in the United States.