by Xenia Ramirez-Espain
Pride month originated on June 28th 1969, the day of the stonewall riots. Sparked by a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, an LGBTQIA+ club in Greenwich Village, New York, the riots were thought to be started in response to the brutal manner in which those who frequented the bar were treated. The patrons credited with initiating the riot were Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson, two transgender women. Despite the fact that transgender people have always been pivotal forces for change and prominent leaders within the LGBTQIA+ community, they have always been shunned by the queer community in addition to the rest of society. Issues facing the transgender community have always been dismissed, although they are recipients of some of the most intolerant behaviour imaginable. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to shed some light on some of the adversities that transgender people face in this country so that we may become more empathetic to their struggles.
Transphobic hate crimes in the UK have quadrupled over the last five years, according to the BBC. However, this figure is likely an underestimation as a large majority of trans people refuse to report the crimes against them for fear of further discrimination by both police and health officials, those whose very jobs were supposedly created to help people regardless of their respective identities. Many transgender people have reported that they were made to feel invalidated by police, who treated them with disdain. Trans people often also have very limited support systems as family members and friends either hold transphobic beliefs or cannot relate to their experiences and therefore cannot help to any significant extent. Furthermore, a large majority of hate crimes against trans people are committed by the people closest to them, with the stonewall organisation reporting that one in four trans people in relationships in Britain have experienced domestic abuse or sexual harassment by their romantic partners. These experiences contribute to high suicide rates in the trans community. Around 48% of trans people have attempted suicide, and approximately 84% have struggled with suicidal ideation.
Stonewall charity has deemed the UK an “unsafe, unwelcoming and frightening place for trans people”. To counteract this, they have made several recommendations to the home office and other government organisations such as the police force and the justice system that look to help reform the system to be more accepting and less unforgiving towards the trans community. Some of these recommendations include; treating hate crimes based on gender identity and sexual orientation more seriously under law, providing adequate training to police officers and frontline staff (such as health workers) to “ensure they can identify and record transphobic hate crimes” and “ensure that prosecutors and judges are trained on transphobic hate crimes on and offline”. These recommendations are brilliant starting points in theory; however, the extent to which they have been implemented and the actual impact they have had in the UK remains to be seen.
We must pressurise the government through petitions and donate to organisations that advocate for the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community to ensure impactful legislation is passed to better the treatment of trans people in this country.
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