As of now transgender students in the United States do not receive the respect — that their cisgender counterparts receive — from teachers, classmates, and other school staff members. Transgender students are often in hostile and unsafe school environments due to the ridicule, neglect, and hate they suffer.
A recent study by the National Center For Transgender Equality frond that 75% of transgender youth feel unsafe at school. This statistic causes much concern because, instead of focusing on their studies, transgender students have to worry about threats such as bullying and harassment from peers. Trans students also have to persevere through teachers and school staff refusing to respect their gender identities. School bathrooms are among the most prevalent ways that trans students face identity discrimination within schools; 59% of trans students have been denied access to restrooms consistent with their gender identity. In addition to not being allowed to use the correct restrooms, trans students are barred from wearing clothes and playing sports consistent with their gender identity. A byproduct of this torture is the significantly lower GPAs obtained by transgender students who endure the toxicity of their school’s environment.
In an interview with NBC News, a transgender student named Grace Dolan-Sandrino shares her story as a trans woman as well as the hardships transgender people face every day. She talks about the uncomfortable idea of being a girl, presenting as a female, and having a female’s body. Additionally, despite identifying as female, she is forced to use the men’s restroom — creating a potentially dangerous situation. She also talks about her strong support system, which she considers a privilege to have compared to the many transgender students who are without one. Grace discusses that, due to unsupportive situations, rates of suicide and depression among trans youth are much higher than the general population. At the end of the interview, she expresses her fear that ignorance will continue to claim young, trans lives.
According to a combined study from GLSEN, MAP, and the National Center For Transgender Equality, 14 states as well as Washington D.C. have education nondiscrimination laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and expression. The other 36 states have no nondiscrimination laws of this nature. This neglect of trans youth by a majority of the United States is alarming and shows how, on a policy level, a meager amount of care exists for the protection of trans and gender non-conforming students.
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