The National Center for Transgender Equality joined with the TransLatin@ Coalition today to release a detailed report about the specific experiences of Latino/a transgender people in many areas of life, from education and employment to health care and police interactions. The report builds upon NCTE’s groundbreaking 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey—the largest ever survey of transgender people in the nation, with nearly 28,000 respondents.
Findings from the full USTS report revealed the disturbing patterns of discrimination and mistreatment that transgender people in the survey faced. These experiences were amplified for transgender people of color, including Latino/a transgender people, who faced deeper and broader forms of mistreatment in many of the most basic elements of life. The new report on Latino/a respondents reveals troubling disparities and patterns of discrimination:
- 21 percent of Latino/a respondents were unemployed—higher than the unemployment rate in the USTS sample overall (15 percent) and more than three times higher than the unemployment rate in the U.S. population (5 percent).
- 43 percent of Latino/a respondents were living in poverty—higher than 29 percent of the general USTS sample and nearly four times the poverty rate in the U.S. population (12 percent).
- 31 percent had experienced homelessness, and 14 percent had experienced homelessness just in the past year because of being transgender.
- Nearly half (45 percent) experienced serious psychological distress in the month before taking the survey—nine times the rate in the U.S. population (5 percent).
“The full report of the U.S. Transgender Survey showed us some incredibly important data that supplemented information we already had about the experiences of transgender people in the United States. Using this information, advocates have already been able to push for policies that are better for transgender people,” said NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling. “Now, this new report will allow advocates to do similar work that is targeted specifically at improving the lives of Latino/a transgender people.”
“Having specific information about Trans Latin@s in the United States is one of the most important elements for us to be validated,” said Translatin@ Coalition President Bamby Salcedo. “This report will provide people the opportunity to better understand our needs so that policymakers can ensure that those needs are met. This information will support our collective work to create the changes that need to happen for our community to be in a better place within our society.”
