Questioning Transphobia

Again alarming figures: Transgender Europe’s Trans Murder Monitoring project reveals more than 800 reported murders of trans people in the last four years

The March 2012 update reveals a total of 816 reported killings of trans people in 55 countries worldwide from January 1st 2008 to December 31st 2011. The update shows an exponential increase in reported killings of trans people over the last four years. In 2008, 141 cases were reported, in 2009 213 cases, in 2010 214 cases, and in 2011 a shocking number of 248. These are mainly the reported cases that could be found through Internet research and cooperation with trans organizations and activists. In most countries, data on murdered trans people are not systematically produced and it is impossible to estimate the numbers of unreported cases.

The reasons for this increase might be manifold. Every year, TGEU’s TVT research team has improved its monitoring methods, started new collaborations with organizations that contributed their data, and received information from activists from many parts of the world. Also, the increase in the visibility of trans people and of trans issues in public discourse may have led to a better reporting of cases. However, the data also show also that there is no decrease, that the shocking amount of violence against trans people still poses a major problem and threat to trans people in many countries. The again alarming figures demonstrate once more that there is an urgent need to react to the violence against trans people and to seek mechanisms to protect trans people. Some international trans activists even started to introduce the term ‘transcide’ to reflect the continuously elevated level of deadly violence against trans people on a global scale.

Cases have been reported from all major World Regions (Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, North America, and Oceania), evoking an evermore gruesome picture, especially given the very partial knowledge we are able to gain in many places.

Most reported cases were from Central and South America, which amount to 643 cases in 21 countries and account for roughly 80 % of the globally reported murders of trans people since January 2008. In this region, there has been the strongest increase in reports (2008: 94, 2009: 165, 2010: 180, and 2011: 204).

The new result update moreover reveals that in the last 4 years, 59 killings of trans people have been reported in Asia (2008: 12, 2009: 14, 2010: 16, 2011: 17), 53 killings have been reported in North America (2008: 18, 2009: 13, 2010: 8, 2011: 14), 53 in Europe (2008: 13, 2009: 19, 2010: 9, 2011: 12), 4 in Oceania (2008: 3, 2009: 1) as well as 4 in Africa (2008: 1, 2009: 2. 2011: 1).

• Tables showing TMM results for 2011 [direct link to PDF]
• Name list 2011 [direct link to PDF]
• Tables showing TMM results for January 2008 to December 2011 [direct link to PDF]
• Interactive map showing TMM results for 2008 to 2011

Map showing the TMM results from January 2008 to December 2011:

[Click here to view large 1900x830px version]

—————

Cross-posted at Bird of Paradox

TSA recognizes the concerns members of the transgender community may have with undergoing the security screening process at our Nation’s airports and is committed to conducting screening in a dignified and respectful manner. These travel tips will explain the various screening processes and technologies travelers may encounter at security checkpoints.

From Preparing For Travel and The Screening Process through to Reporting Travel Issues Or Concerns, the TSA website has all the information you’ll need when travelling into and around the US.

I wrote last month about the decision by the conservative Christian Democrat party government (along with the nationalist Sweden Democrat party) to retain a 1972 gender recognition law under which TS/TG and gender variant people who want to change their legal gender are required to be sterilised. The requirement was a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is enacted as law in Sweden.

There was an international outcry at the loss of the opportunity to bring the legislation up to date: in Sweden, the law is only reviewed every forty years. Advocacy groups and activists from around the world protested the decision and an online petition to the Swedish Prime Minister received over 77,000 signatures.

Now, via Ulrika Westerlund, President of RFSL (the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights), I learn that the campaign appears to have been successful, with the conservative party which was blocking the reform to remove the criteria apparently having changed its mind.

According to a statement in Debatt:

Everyone is equal here. From the Christian Democrats’ side, we have been clear that the issue of sterilization at sex change – as well as other issues related to children – requires careful thought and analysis. Many transsexuals are met with hatred and fear, in violation of the principle of equal worth of all – the hallmark of Christian tradition of ideas and thus the Christian Democrats. Therefore, it is our opinion that the requirements for sterilization at sex change should be abolished, writes Christian Democratic party leadership.

This is very good news indeed for TS/TG and gender variant people in Sweden who wish to change their legal gender, although the underlying issue (linking people’s legal identity to their medical status) remains unexamined.

—————

As a footnote, it should also be remembered that Sweden isn’t the only member state of the European Union requiring TS/TG and gender variant people to undergo surgery before they can change their legal identity. Published work by the TGEU’s TVT Project suggests at least eight other countries – Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain – where legal change of gender is contingent upon GRS/sterilisation or Gender Reassignment Therapy and we can only hope that these countries will follow Sweden’s example. (Note: the TVT Project’s list is not definitive and is subject to ongoing research and updates).

—————

Image: transgender symbol on blue and yellow background compiled from public domain images in Wikimedia Commons (here and here) by Helen

Last week, the government of Sweden took the decision to retain a 1972 gender recognition law under which TS/TG and gender variant people who want to change their legal gender are required to be sterilised. According to Ulrika Westerlund, President of RFSL (the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights), this was done to satisfy the conservative Christian Democrat party who, along with the nationalist Sweden Democrat party, are the only two groups in favour of the law. I gather that Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeld was fully aware that this reqiurement is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights which is enacted as law in Sweden.

The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, has made a very clear stand on the issue, that forcing TS/TG and gender variant people to undergo unwanted medical interventions in order to change their legal gender is a breach of human rights. The Comittee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, representing 47 membership states has taken a similar stand. The bitter irony in all this is, of course, that while Sweden is often considered to be in the forefront of human rights advocacy and implementation, this decision would seem to be a huge step backwards.

Concerns have been voiced at the loss of the opportunity to bring the legislation up to date: in Sweden, the law is only reviewed every forty years and it already creates at least one anomaly, in that the present law also requires TS/TG and gender variant people to be single in order to receive legal gender recognition – and this in a country which already has same sex marriages. Courts have previously overruled this requirement, but nevertheless it is still enshrined in the law. Additionally, there is the risk of setting a precedent and this is a particular worry for some TS/TG and gender variant people in Finland where the gender equality ombudsman has recommended that Finland should remove a similar requirement from the Finnish law. Finland also has a Christian Democratic Party in its Government which has already blocked a reform giving same sex couples the right to marry.

Although Sweden is not alone in upholding the requirement of forced sterilisation (the Netherlands, Denmark and France are other European countries with similar legislation [source]), the outcry on various TS/TG forums was immediate and international; amongst others, Human Rights Watch, the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights and TGEU and ILGA-Europe have all made formal statements of protest to the Swedish Prime Minister and Parliament, calling for the immediate abolition of the forced sterilisation requirement for legal purposes.

Meanwhile, All Out, an activist group advocating for improvements in the lives of LGB & T people worldwide, has joined with RFSL to launch an online petition to let the Swedish Prime Minister know that this legislation is unacceptable. The petition currently has over 36,000 signatories and is aiming for at least 50,000. If this is something you feel you can support, then please sign – and distribute the information and the link as widely as you can.

http://allout.org/stop_forced_sterilization/

————

[Image: transgender symbol on blue and yellow background compiled from public domain images in Wikimedia Commons (here and here) by Helen]

This video is a Transfix production, etc:

I am unable to properly transcribe this (and my verbal working memory has tested as abominably low, so now it’s even scientifically proven), but I would appreciate if someone else could.

Transcription (without indicators as to who said which, unfortunately, via Reddit):

You know, for my new year’s resolution, I was thinking about only using Zee and Zir. Doesn’t that sound just so much more inclusive?
I could tell, it’s the voice.
They… is not a pronoun.
Sorry, sorry… I keep getting your pronouns wrong. It’s just really hard for me.
You know, I don’t really identify as cis, and it makes me feel really marginalized when you call me that.
Oh my god, I love Ru Paul’s Drag Race! You should totally be on that!
So what do you think of this Chaz Bono? I think it’s great that you guys have, like, a role model.
So what’s your real name?
You are so brave.
No no, your real word.
Look, I know a lot of drag queens, and they all use that word.
Don’t worry, once gay marriage is legalized, people are going to stop discriminating against you too.
So have you had the surgery yet?
Has she had the surgery yet?
Has he had the surgery?
Has she had the surgery yet?
(Wanders into her bedroom when changing) Oh my god, you really can’t tell!
Eric, what are you doing in my house?? (Slams door)
If you want to pass…
You know, you transgenders are so inspiring.
You know, I’m just really happy you’re finally going to be one or the other.
My cousin’s best friend is gay, so, I totally get it.
Who do you have sex with?
I didn’t even know you were gay!
Hey, did you hear about John?
I read Middlesex, and I cried, like, bawled.
Why would you want to do something like that.
I look like such a tranny today… you know what I mean.
I’ll call you she when you get the surgery.
Cis? What does that mean?!
Oh, I’ve known him since he was Melissa.
Have they had the surgery?
Has she had the surgery yet?
Did she have the surgery?
(All together) Have you had the surgery yet?

Now online: first mapping of legal and health care situation of trans people in 58 countries

The legal and health mapping was conducted by Transgender Europe’s Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide (TvT) research project in close cooperation with activists and experts from all world regions. A comprehensive questionnaire developed by the TvT project’s research team and reviewed by more than 15 researchers and activists from all six worlds regions was distributed to over 70 international activists and experts, who provided detailed information including comments and explanations on the specific situation in the respective country.

The mapping consists of different tables on:

1. Legal Gender Recognition: Change of Name & Change of Gender

The TvT tables provide detailed information on legal measures meant to guarantee a legal change of name and a legal change of gender for trans people. They list requirements such as ‘psychiatric diagnosis’, ‘gender reassignment surgery’ or ‘sterilization’. Unfortunately, the mapping shows that in all listed countries in which a legal change of gender is possible, a ‘psychiatric diagnosis’, i.e. a pathologization of the applying trans person, is required for a legal change of gender. Furthermore, most legal measures list ‘gender reassignment surgery’ or ‘sterilization’ as requirements for legal gender recognition, which clearly violates human rights.

The TvT tables also show the actual legal situation, meaning how legal change of name and gender are enacted in practice in the mapped countries. In some countries with existing legal measures, trans people’s applications are delayed for months and years, whereas in some countries without existing legal measures, trans people find other ways, for instance of legally changing their name. The TvT mapping moreover lists existing proposals regarding the legal change of name and gender in detail. This may serve both as an evaluation of the existing legal measures and situation and as an indicator of existing trans activism.

Click here to open this table

2. Anti-Discrimination, Hate Crime, and Asylum Legislation

The TvT tables provide detailed information regarding the inclusion of trans identity/gender identity in Anti-Discrimination and Hate Crime laws and in the Constitution. They also list the inclusion of trans people in Asylum guidelines. The mapping indicates that ‘gender identity’ is very rarely acknowledged as a ground of discrimination.

It also shows the legal situation, meaning the actual practices regarding these legal measures and guidelines, as well as proposals that challenge existing measures. These proposals very often demand the explicit inclusion of ‘gender identity’ into existing legal measures.

Click here to open this table

3. Criminalization, Prosecution, and State-sponsored Discrimination

The TvT tables show detailed information on the legal measures that criminalize trans people and trans related issues, such as ‘so-called cross-dressing’ and ‘gender reassignment surgery’. In some countries in the Global South and East these laws were introduced by colonial powers and missionaries and are not acted upon today. For instance, in some countries where ‘so-called cross-dressing’ is illegal, trans people are extremely visible and acknowledged within their culture and society rather than being prosecuted. There are, however, other countries where there is no criminalization, yet trans people are prosecuted with other laws that are used specifically against trans people, such as anti-prostitution, loitering or nuisance laws. The TvT tables are designed in a way to clearly show these important differences between legal criminalization and actual prosecution of trans people. They thus aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of the legal situation beyond the mere existence of legal measures.

Click here to open this table

4. Trans-Specific Health Care: Hormone Therapy and Hormones & Gender Reassignment Treatment and Body Modifications

The TvT research has addressed not only the legal situation of trans people but also important aspects of trans people’s social situation. The TvT tables give a first insight into trans people’s health care situation, focusing on trans-specific hormone therapy and hormones as well as gender reassignment treatments and body modifications. The TvT tables show manifold aspects regarding medically supervised hormone therapy and gender reassignment treatments, including requirements like ‘psychiatric diagnosis’ and the availability of funding.

The tables moreover list the existence of alternative practices, such as acquiring hormones on the black market without medical supervision or applying industrial silicone without medical supervision. These ‘alternatives’ exist in countries where trans-specific health-care is not provided as well as in cases where trans people do not meet the requirements for medically supervised treatment. They can lead to serious health problems and in some cases even to death.

This table is in two parts: Click here to open part 1 – and – Click here to open part 2

A characteristic of Transgender Europe’s legal and health mapping is thus that it enables a quick overview of existing laws while at the same time providing detail and complexity regarding actual practices.

At present, 58 countries are listed in the following regions: Africa (9 countries), Asia (13 countries), Central and South America (9 countries), Europe (18 countries), and Oceania (9 countries). For India, a separate set of tables showing the situation in individual states is provided. Further countries will be added in due time, including a separate set of tables for the 8 Australian states and Brazil. The TvT mapping is designed such that it enables a regular update and extension of the tables. Therefore, any information and evaluation of the presented tables is highly welcomed and will be analysed and included in regular updates. In the course of 2012, we will step by step present more elaborated information, including context information, references, law texts, etc. in selected country sections of the TvT website. In these sections, the numerous activists and researchers that contributed to the TvT mapping will be fully acknowlegded.

Transgender Europe’s legal and health mapping can be accessed on the TvT project website at:

http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/en_US/mapping.htm

New research: In November 2011, the TvT research team together with six partner organizations from Asia, Eastern Europe, Oceania, and South America started a new survey in form of a peer research on trans people’s experiences with Transrespect and Transphobia.

The TvT project is funded by the Open Society Foundations, the ARCUS Foundation, and partly by the Heinrich Boell Foundation.

If you have further questions or if you want to support the research project, please contact the TvT research team:

Dr Carsten Balzer and Dr Jan Simon Hutta

research[at]transrespect-transphobia.org

or check our website:

www.transrespect-transphobia.org

—————

Cross-posted at Bird of Paradox

Transgender Europe’s Trans Murder Monitoring project reveals 221 killings of trans people in the last 12 months

In total, since January 2008 the murders of 755 trans people have been reported

The 13th International Transgender Day of Remembrance is being held on November 20th 2011: Since 1999, the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), on which those trans people who have been victims of homicide are remembered, takes place every November. The TDOR raises public awareness of hate crimes against trans people, provides a space for public mourning and honours the lives of those trans people who might otherwise be forgotten. Started in the USA, the TDOR is now held in many parts of the world. In the past, the TDOR took place in more than 180 cities in more than 20 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.

Sadly, this year there are 221 trans persons to be added to the list to be remembered, mourned and honoured as an update of the preliminary results of Transgender Europe’s Trans Murder Monitoring project reveals.

The Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) project started in April 2009 and systematically monitors, collects and analyses reports of homicides of trans people worldwide. Updates of the preliminary results, which have been presented in July 2009 for the first time, are published on the website of the “Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide” project three to four times a year in form of tables, name lists, and maps:

http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/en_US/tvt-project/tmm-results.htm

Every year in November, Transgender Europe provides a special update of the TMM results for the International Transgender Day of Remembrance so as to assist activists worldwide in raising public awareness of hate crimes against trans people.

The TDOR 2011 update has revealed a shocking total of 221 cases of reported killings of trans people from November 20th 2010 to November 14th 2011:

http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/en_US/tvt-project/tmm-results/tdor2011.htm

In comparison to the TDOR updates of the last years (162 reports 2009, 179 reports in 2010), we are witnessing a significant increase, which points to the extreme level of violence many trans people continue to be exposed to. However, this increase may also reflect the TvT project’s intensified cooperation and data exchange with trans and LGBT organizations, which document murders of LGBT or trans people in local and national contexts such as Grupo Gay da Bahia (Brazil), Observatorio Ciudadano Trans (Cali, Colombia), Pembe Hayat (Turkey), or TVMEX-Travestis México.

The update shows reports of murdered or killed trans people in 26 countries in the last 12 months, with the majority from Brazil (97), Mexico (23), Colombia (19), and Venezuela (14) followed by Argentina (9), Honduras (9), and the USA (9). In Asia most reported cases have been found in Pakistan (6), and the Philippines (5), and in Europe in Turkey (5).

In total, the preliminary results show 755 reports of murdered trans people in 51 countries since January 2008.

[...]

Yet, we know, even these high numbers are only a fraction of the real figures; the truth is much worse.

[...]

If you have further questions or if you want to support the research project, please contact the TvT research team:

Dr Carsten Balzer and Dr Jan Simon Hutta

research[at]transrespect-transphobia.org

www.transrespect-transphobia.org

I used to live in Portland and Tri-Met was my transportation anywhere beyond walking distance.

I came across this project by a Portland blogger to donate Tri-Met tickets to people who need them, via organizations such as the Outside In (a charity clinic primarily focused on helping teens). The first ten books of tickets go to Yolanda House, a domestic violence shelter.

I know I have readers who live in the Portland area, so passing it along.

So, four years ago this very day, I finally reached the end of my patience with a lot of trans-hating crap I’d seen online over the years, plus the many microaggressions and kinds of discrimination I’d experienced offline, and started QT. The first post was to help brownfemipower promote a particular EXCITE! Women and Trans Folk of Color project regarding police violence against cis and trans women of color and other trans people of color.

In the time since, this site has clearly had its ups and downs, and I have a tendency to lose track of what kind of things I want to say here and stop posting for weeks or months at a time – which frustrates me a lot, as I’d like to keep this up. In the time since, I’ve also learned a lot about what other people who deal with different oppressions have to cope with, and how to differentiate them each other. I’ve also had to come to terms with my own cognitive limitations, which I had not been entirely aware of prior to 2007, except insofar as I could never figure out why it was so hard for me to do things other people found effortless.

And through all that time, I’ve had so many people e-mail me or comment here or pm me on social sites about how QT has helped them come to terms with themselves, or learn how to deconstruct and respond to anti-trans crap and cope with it better. Every time someone tells me that QT has helped them, I feel pretty amazing – I’m really glad that many have found something they needed here.

I’ve also met a lot of amazing people through blogging. Friendships I value a lot.

I’ve also had the good fortune to have really good co-bloggers who consented to post here – Helen, Queen Emily, little light, and Quinnae Moongazer. I’ve also had so many guest posters it’s hard to list them all, who have contributed so much to making this site what I wanted it to be. Really, QT wouldn’t be a fourth as good if it were just me.

I’m also immensely grateful to people who have come through during crises I and Queen Emily have had over the years, and I am still a bit stunned at the reaction we received last winter – that helped so much I can’t even begin to describe it.

I hope I can get back into writing more again – it’s so easy to slip away and into other habits, especially this year for me has been full of bureaucratic and medical issues that have taken up more time and energy than I prefer, but are very very necessary.

Anyway, thanks everyone who comes around, comments, posts, reads, whatever. I’m really grateful that so many of you have wanted to read and participate in what gets posted here.

Also, happy Halloween. :)

Press release from Masen Davis, Executive Director at the Transgender Law Center:

WE DID IT!

Governor Brown just signed two important transgender rights bills into law. The first, the Gender Nondiscrimination Act, brings transgender rights out of the closet in California – making “gender identity and expression” its own protected category at work, at school, in housing, at public accommodations and in other settings. The second, the Vital Statistics Modernization Act, makes it easier for transgender people to get a court-ordered gender change and updated birth certificate. It’s a big day for transgender folks in California!

We are holding a special briefing MONDAY October 10th, at 6:00 PM to update everyone on the impact of these bills. Click here to RSVP.

*We will be holding a separate Spanish language briefing later this week. For more information on this call, click here e-mail Maceo Persson.

These laws have been years in the making. Through our statewide survey of almost 650 transgender Californians, the 1,200 calls that our legal team receives annually and our conversations with you at events around the state, we discovered two problems that continued to resurface:

1. We found that California’s nondiscrimination laws were often not accessible to those who needed them the most. Employers, health care providers, housing authorities – even transgender and gender non-conforming people – were unaware that it is illegal to discriminate against transgender Californians. Our legal rights were hidden within the definition of “gender”, leaving many people in the dark about their rights, and many institutions out of compliance responsibilities. This had an especially severe impact on low-income and trans communities of color who tend to face employment discrimination at higher frequencies within transgender communities.
2. We heard from many transgender people who were unable to change their birth certificates and other identity documents due to financial and medical barriers. Onerous and outdated standards for court-ordered gender changes created unfair and damaging barriers that disproportionately impacted trans people of color, immigrant trans people, low-income trans people and others who could not overcome the many hurdles to securing basic identity documents. These are identity documents we all need to work, travel, and be our authentic selves.

With the help of your input and our partners at Equality California and GSA Network, we came up with two legislative solutions to these problems.

• The Gender Nondiscrimination Act (AB 887) takes existing protections based on gender and spells out “gender identity and expression” as their own protected categories in our nondiscrimination laws. By making these protections explicit, people will more clearly understand California’s nondiscrimination laws, which should increase the likelihood that employers, schools, housing authorities, and other institutions will work to prevent discrimination and/or respond more quickly at the first indications of discrimination.
• The Vital Statistics Modernization Act (AB 433) will alleviate the confusion, anxiety and even danger that transgender people face when we have identity documents that do not reflect who we are. The bill will streamline current law and clarify that eligible petitioners living or born in California can submit gender change petitions in the State of California. The Vital Statistics Modernization Act conforms California’s standards to the standards set by the United States Department of State for gender changes on passports, and it makes common-sense changes to the law that ensure the process is simple for qualified petitioners to navigate.

Today these bills have become law, and this huge victory belongs to you! This legislative session, hundreds of transgender, gender non-conforming and ally Californians took action — educating lawmakers, reaching out to the governor and sharing their stories with the media.

Our victory is a testament that California is at its best when we work together to realize the ideal that everyone should be treated fairly and equally. The barriers that transgender people face are life threatening and we applaud Governor Brown, Assemblymember Atkins and Assemblymember Lowenthal for their tremendous leadership to remove some of the obstacles that prevent transgender Californians from living as our authentic selves.