From schools and healthcare to immigration and identification, policies affecting trans people are advancing every day. However, we are still quite a far distance from trans people living equally and fairly under the law as compared to their cis-gender peers.
Kathe and Brynn discuss existing laws and policies, and how we might inform ourselves to effectively advocate, thus helping to improve the lives of transgender people.
In 2011, NCTE and the National LGBTQ Task Force released the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. This was the largest study ever conducted, with over 6,400 transgender and gender non-conforming people participating. The results showed that 63% of these participants had experienced significant acts of discrimination. The impact of this high frequency of discrimination has far-reaching negative effects on trans people’s quality of life and ability to sustain themselves financially or emotionally.
Participants reported that they had faced:
- Loss of job due to bias
- Eviction due to bias
- School bullying/harassment so severe the respondent had to drop out
- Teacher bullying
- Physical assault due to bias
- Sexual assault due to bias
- Homelessness because of gender identity/expression
- Loss of relationship with partner or children due to gender identity/expression
- Denial of medical service due to bias
- Incarceration due to gender identity/expression
This podcast was adapted from a video interview. CLICK HERE to see the video.
Brynn Tannehill is originally from Phoenix, Ariz. She graduated from the Naval Academy with a B.S. in computer science in 1997. She earned her Naval Aviator wings in 1999 and flew SH-60B helicopters and P-3C maritime patrol aircraft during three deployments between 2000 and 2004. She served as a campaign analyst while deployed overseas to 5th Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain from 2005 to 2006. In 2008 Brynn earned a M.S. in Operations Research from the Air Force Institute of Technology and transferred from active duty to the Naval Reserves. In 2008 Brynn began working as a senior defense research scientist in private industry. She left the drilling reserves and began transition in 2010. Since then she has written for OutServe magazine, The New Civil Rights Movement, and Queer Mental Health as a blogger and featured columnist.
Brynn and her wife Janis currently live in Xenia, Ohio, with their three children.
This podcast was adapted from a video interview. CLICK HERE to see the video.
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Kathe Perez
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