Discrimination and Hate Crimes against the Trans Community

The transgender community is a small subculture within the LGBTQ community that has endured a lot of discrimination from a predominantly cisgender society. Cisgender is a term used to describe people who identify with the sex they were assigned at birth, and transgender is a term used to describe people who identify with a gender different from the sex they were assigned at birth. This research will examine the history of the oppression that this community has faced with a focus on the current situation and an outlook for the future. Literature on the topic will be reviewed as well as a discussion of current legal changes affecting trans people. The goal of this paper is to bring to light a community that is not well-understood and to expose the oppression that occurs within it. The ambition of this paper is to raise awareness, with the hope of reducing future oppression and discrimination towards trans and gender non-conforming people. Although many of those in the LGBTQ community share these experiences and feelings, those who are not a part of the transgender community may not be fully aware of the injustices they experience. The purpose of this paper would be to inspire a discussion of the complexities of gender and how living authentically can come with a price. Ultimately, the goal is to bring awareness to this serious issue, and to inspire change in areas of oppression and marginalization in the United States