Tuesday, May 22, 2012
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM (Lunch will be provided)
SVC 209-08 in the Capitol Visitors Center
Senator Merkley’s office would like to invite you to attend an upcoming briefing on a new report on the prevalence of discrimination against transgender people.
The briefing will feature findings from a groundbreaking new report, Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Study. The study is the largest ever done on the prevalence of discrimination against transgender people. It reveals that transgender and gender non-conforming people face injustice in many places, including: childhood homes; in school systems that promise to shelter and educate; in harsh and exclusionary workplaces; at the grocery store; at the hotel front desk; in doctors’ offices; and at emergency rooms.
– Alarmingly high rates of harassment and discrimination while in grades K-12: harassment (78%), physical assault (35%) and sexual assault (12%). 51% of those who were verbally harassed, physically or sexually assaulted, or were expelled because they were transgender or gender non-conforming reported having attempted suicide.
– Direct housing discrimination — 19% reported having been refused a home or apartment and 11% reported being evicted because of their gender identity/expression.
– Double the rate of unemployment: survey respondents experienced unemployment at twice the rate of the general population at the time of the survey, with rates for people of color up to four times the national unemployment rate.
– Harassment, mistreatment or discrimination: ninety percent (90%) of those surveyed reported experiencing harassment, mistreatment or discrimination on the job or took actions like hiding who they are to avoid it.
The briefing will feature:
– Jaime M. Grant, Ph.D., Executive Director, Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, Kalamazoo College, MI
– Mara Keisling, Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality
– Jack Harrison, Policy Analyst, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
– Alex Nelson, a Maryland resident who experienced employment discrimination on the basis of his gender identity.
We hope you will be able to attend this timely briefing to learn more about these important issues. If you have any questions, please contact Scott Rosenthal of Senator Merkley’s staff (202.224.3753 or scott_rosenthal@merkley.senate.gov).
Senate GLASS Caucus 