The Issues:
Transgender Issues
Personal Stories: Ashton Phillips
This letter was submitted as testimony for the 8th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance on Nov. 20, 2006.
I am writing today to ask for your support in the expansion of the Anti-Discrimination Law to protect transgender people in our state.
Experts estimate that a transgender person is murdered once every two weeks in this country because of the hatred some have for people like me, a hatred that stems from misunderstanding and fear. I am thankful that last year, the legislature working with the Governor and Equality Maryland, passed into law an amendment to the Hate Crimes Bill guaranteeing stiffer penalties for those who commit these acts of hate violence.
And yet the same misunderstanding and fear that manifests itself as violence against transgender people also manifests itself all too frequently as discrimination -- and transgender people are still not protected from that discrimination in this state.
When unchecked, discrimination can lead to chronic unemployment and homelessness, and our whole community suffers in the lost contributions of so many to society. For when discrimination prevents or hinders someone from gaining or keeping employment, many other problems develop. Rent doesn’t get paid, which leads to eviction. And because our families often fail to function as the safety nets so many others rely on, eviction for transgender people all too often means homelessness.
This impact of unchecked discrimination against transgender people is born out in the limited research we have on the subject. The Washington Area Transgender Needs Assessment survey estimates that 42% of transgender people in the DC Metro Area are unemployed; 31% have incomes of less than $10,000/year. 19% of us do not have our own living space, and the most common barriers cited by those who lack housing are economic situation (38%), housing staff insensitivity or hostility to transgender people (29%), estrangement from birth family (27%) and lack of employment (23%).
Each person deserves an equal opportunity to make a life for themselves free from discrimination and violence, regardless of the chromosomes with which they were born, the hormones to which they were exposed in the womb, or the medical procedures they've undergone since. That is why I am writing today to ask for your strong support of this urgently needed bill -- to finish the task we began last session to make Maryland safe for everyone.
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