In the United States, within the population of youth who experience homelessness, transgender youth are disproportionately represented.
A survey that was done of street outreach programs in the U.S. showed 7% of young people, self-identified as transgender.
Trans youth who experience homelessness, often experience many forms of discrimination and violence, and face systemic barriers. This includes institutional practices that often deny their own understanding and expression of their gender.
30% of survey respondents reported experiencing homelessness at some point in their lifespan because they were transgender.
Trans youth often experience these forms of rejection and/or violence because of their gender identity assertion and gender expression first in their homes and in their schools.
- Trans youth experiences of violence and discrimination are very common in school settings.
- 86% of LGBTQIA students who were surveyed, heard negative comments about transgender people at school.
- 51% of transgender students were told they were not allowed to use their chosen name and accurate pronouns in their schools.
- It is often that trans youth run away or are kicked out of their homes because of their forms of expression. Parents of these youth have become violent and/or neglectful.
- This results in a lack of safety for these individuals.
Once they are homeless:
- Housing instability is a major issue among these individuals.
- Difficulties with discrimination, rejection, and violence in the systems that are meant to help them and support them are often exacerbated for transgender homeless youth of color who experience systems at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities.
- There is a lack of training or no training at all for housing, employment, health care, and social service systems in order to meet the specific needs transgender youth who have experienced multiple forms of discrimination related to racism, cisgenderism, transphobia, heterosexism, and homophobia.
- Young transgender women of color often experience extreme marginalization in shelters, housing programs, and social services because of their gender identity, race, sexual identity, class, and age.
Why trans youth may be more vulnerable?
Trans individuals have difficulty getting access to services like shelter and employment support because of obstacles that limit their safety.
Trans individuals are more likely to end up on the street or in public places, like train stations or abandoned buildings. This can make it more likely that they may be victimized or engage in survival strategies that are criminalized if they do not have access to these services.
There is evidence of trans individuals having greater mental and physical health needs than their cisgender and LGB counterparts. This can be seen as a result of systematic oppression.
Keeping these factors in mind, there is a need to examine larger social processes and social policies as transgender youth experience homelessness.
***Research of homeless transgender youth is currently insufficient and lacking. This is due to research focusing on the macro LGBTQIA community and not the micro Transgender sub-community.
