Transgender Suicide Report

By Anthony Davis
Suicide in the transgender community is a growing concern. In general suicide is the
tenth leading cause of death in the united states. However, in the transgender
community suicide is much greater threat. The Williams Institute conducted a report on
the transgender community that discussed the frequency and reasons why the
transgender community is facing such hardship around suicidality. They determined that
the transgender community is facing systematic oppression and high levels of prejudice
in their day to day lives. Example of this prejudice can be read in the media, where
recently a gender fluid teenager in idaho was found dead after being bullied and beaten
to death. Another example that is more widely known is the recent bathroom legislature
that has taken place in north carolina. Where the transgender community is being
painted as sexual predators. These are just a few examples of the violence and
harassment that can lead a transgender individual to feel isolated and feel hopeless
enough to make a decision to end their life.

Transgender suicide statistics

The Williams institute conducted a survey with over 6000 participating
transgender or non-gender conforming individuals to compile a set of data that would
help us understand the hardships that impact the transgender community. According to
the Williams institute national surveys approximately 41% of transgender or non-gender
conforming individuals have attempted suicide. This is drastic when comparing these
percentages to the overall population's attempted suicide rate. This statistic indicates

that the transgender individuals are nine times more likely to attempt suicide than that
general population.

As a society that discusses the importance about equality this number is quite
disproportionate. This essentially means that our friends, family, children are at a
greater risk of suicide if they identify as gender that they were not originally assigned to.
A disturbing 20% of the people identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual reported
attempted suicide, an indicator of the impact of social. In these two figures we can
recognize a compelling correlation: as the categories of systematic oppression
compound the percentage of suicide attempts increases significantly. However,
correlation is not causation. It would be mistaken to assume that homosexuality or
gender identification are the causes of suicidal behaviors. Indeed, we need to
understand a variety of risk factors if we are going to understand why transgender
individuals are more likely to attempt suicide.

Factors that lead to suicidality in the transgender community

The williams institute shows us the problem but it is equally as important to
understand why types of hardships the transgender community is facing to drive
suicidality. As we all know there are numerous factors that impact a persons mental
state and increase the risk of suicide. These factors include, but are not limited to, a few
specific environmental experiences: hardship related to housing, school, work, family,
friends, law enforcement, and medical care. Attending school in youth is a particularly
difficult time for transgender individuals. According to national school climate survey
over a majority of transgender individuals experience several forms of harassment in
school. The survey also indicates that these individuals often do not feel safe in a
school environment. These numbers also represent the fact that people are
experiencing bullying in school. It is an important problem that society faces and we
cannot expect the bully mentality to stop if we do not protect the people who face
oppression. It is also important to understand that our education system fails if the
students do not feel safe. The Williams institute also provided additional statistics on
these areas of hardship. The following list demonstrates percentages of the surveyed
transgender individuals that have experienced hardship in the predefined areas: 57%
have family that chose not to speak to or spend time with them, 59% experienced
discrimination at work, 60% had a health care provider refuse to treat them, 61% were
disrespected or harassed by law enforcement officers, and 69% experienced
homelessness. However, the Williams institute also understands and states that
population-based surveys will be unlikely able to explore the full range of issues that

uniquely impact the wellbeing of transgender people, such as barriers to transitionrelated health care and the impact of discrimination due to anti-transgender bias.(P.16)
The fact that so many people in this community face these types of hardship is
shocking. If any other major demographic faced was experiencing the same frequency
of these problems we would
have major political upset.

In conclusion, the
transgender community is
subject to numerous factors
of systematic oppression.
We have been able to see
with the research provided
that the transgender
community faces hardships
and prejudice in many factors of their lives. These hardships have been directly
connected to causing mental distress. This distress leads to the hopelessness and
despair that can lead someone to suicide. This leads to a clear indicator that suicidality
in the transgender community is a major hardship, which in part explains why suicide
remains the leading cause of death for transgender individuals. This data is supported
by numerous credible sources. However, a majority of these sources indicate that the
research they have conducted cannot be completely accurate. There is only so much
information that can be gleaned from survey-based data due to reporting and memory

bias. However, when we examine the trends of suicide, it is extremely likely that these
numbers are actually greater than current survey indications. The research often
concludes that additional data is needed to understand effective interventions to protect
the life of these individuals. They also indicate that, as a whole, the transgender
community would benefit if they were no longer a target of systematic oppression. As a
society and people who participate in a social contract, we have agreed to the rules set
forth in the constitution. Our constitution indicates that it is an inalienable right to have
life, safety, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. All of which are compromised for a
majority of transgender individuals. As a society, we are obligated to further seek to
understand this community and provide a system that works for everyone from a moral
and even legal perspective.

Works Cited:
Malone, Luke. "Transgender Suicide Attempt Rates Are Staggering." Vocativ Raquo.
N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

Kosciw, J. G., Greytak, E. A., Palmer, N. A., & Boesen, M. J. (2014). The 2013 National
School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
youth in our nations schools. New York: GLSEN.

Suicide Statistics AFSP." AFSP. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.

Haas, Ann P., Philip L. Rodgers, and Jody L. Herman. "Suicide attempts among
transgender and gender non-conforming adults." work 50 (2014): 59.