1 in 4 Transgender
Adults Say They’ve Been Physically Attacked, New KFF/Washington Post
Partnership Survey Finds
The Groundbreaking
National Survey Explores Transgender Adults’ Diverse Identities and
Experiences, Including Growing Up, Transitioning, and Facing
Discrimination in Jobs, Housing and Health Care
A new
KFF-Washington Post partnership survey provides a
groundbreaking portrait of the diverse identities and experiences of
transgender adults in the United States, including how they define
themselves, childhood experiences, gender transitions, and the hostility
and discrimination they face.
The project is the most in-depth representative survey of the life
experiences of transgender adults living in the U.S., based on interviews
with 515 trans individuals. KFF and The Washington Post also conducted a
comparison survey of 823 adults who do not identify as transgender.
Findings from the survey – the 36th in the KFF-Post partnership dating
back to 1995 – are featured in The
Washington Post’s journalism and a KFF report.
At 11 a.m. ET today, The Washington Post in partnership with KFF will
hold a virtual
event drawing on the survey findings and examining the
realities that transgender Americans face.
Trans adults report widespread discrimination and harassment, including
one in four (25%) who say they have been physically attacked because of
their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. The
share rises to three in ten among trans people of color (31%) and those
who physically present as a gender different that their sex assigned at
birth all or most of the time (30%). Even larger shares of trans adults
report being verbally attacked (64%) and being harassed or feeling unsafe
in a restroom or locker room because of their gender identity, gender
expression, or sexual identity (41%).
Trans adults also report more difficulties in childhood, including
feeling less safe and facing greater mental health struggles, than other
adults. Despite this, nearly eight in ten (78%) of those who present as a
gender different than the one assigned at birth say the transition has made
them more satisfied with their lives.
Among trans people who have told at least one immediate family member
about their identity, most (69%) say their family members are at least
“somewhat supportive” of their trans identity, including one-fourth who
say their family members are “very supportive.”
Trans individuals who had a trusted adult during their childhood (40% of
trans adults) are less likely to report certain adverse childhood
experiences. For example, two-thirds of trans adults (67%) who reported
having a trusted adult to talk to say they had a happy childhood,
compared to less than half (44%) of trans adults who didn’t have a
trusted adult growing up.
The survey explores many different aspects of the experience of being
trans in America, including some of the key insights cited below:
Growing up trans. Two thirds of trans adults (66%) say they began
to understand their identify as a child or teenager, though most did not
tell others at the time. A large majority (78%) say they experienced
depression, anxiety, or other serious mental health challenges growing
up. A minority felt safe participating in youth sports (44%), youth
activities (41%) or religious gatherings (35%). Three in ten (29%) were
kicked out of their homes or otherwise homeless.
Transitioning. What it means to “transition” differs widely among
trans adults, and not all trans adults report feeling the need to
transition in a specific way or seek gender-affirming care. Most say
they’ve changed the clothes they wear (77%), changed their hair style or
grooming (76%), gone by different pronouns (72%), or used a different
name (57%). Fewer say they received counseling or therapy as part of
their transition (38%), used hormone treatments or puberty blockers
(31%), legally changed their name (24%), or underwent gender-affirming
surgery or other surgical treatments (16%).
Difficulties accessing health care. Nearly half (47%) of trans
adults say their health care providers know “not much” or “nothing” about
how to provide care for trans people. About three in ten (31%) say they
have had to teach their doctor or other provider about trans people to
get appropriate care, and the same share (31%) say they’ve had a provider
who refused to acknowledge their preferred gender identity. In addition,
17% say they’ve had a doctor refuse to provide gender-affirming care such
as hormone treatments, and more than one in five (22%) say they have had
health insurance that would not cover gender-affirming care or treatment.
Mental health. More than four in ten (43%) trans adults say
they’ve had suicidal thoughts in the past year, a rate much higher than
other adults (16%). A quarter (26%) also report having an eating
disorder, and 17% say they engaged in self-harming behaviors in the past
year - six times the rate among other adults (3%). Nearly half (47%) of
trans adults say they did not get needed mental health care in the past
year, often because of its costs.
Job and housing discrimination. One in five (21%) trans adults say
they were fired, denied a job, or denied a promotion because of their
gender identity, expression, or sexual identity. About half (49%) say
they have been asked unnecessary or invasive questions at work. One in
eight (13%) say they were evicted or denied housing because of their
gender identity. More than a quarter (27%) say they moved to a different
part of town, or a new city or state, because they thought it would be
more accepting for someone who is trans.
The KFF/Washington Post Trans Survey was designed to reach a
representative sample of adults in the U.S. who identify as transgender
along with a comparison representative sample of the cisgender population
in the U.S. The survey was conducted between Nov. 10 and Dec. 1, 2022,
online and by telephone among a nationally representative sample of 515
U.S. adults who identify as trans and another 823 cisgender U.S. adults
who do not identify as trans and their gender is the same as their sex
assigned at birth. The margin of sampling error including the design
effect for the trans adult sample is plus or minus 7 percentage points and
plus or minus 4 percentage points for the non-trans adult sample. For
results based on other subgroups, the margin of sampling error may be
higher.
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