Transgender And Cisgender Youth Essay

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Transgender and Cisgender Youth Differences
How does transgender youth experience adolescence differently than their cisgender youth counterparts? This question cannot be answered with a simple sentence, in order for me to conceptualize a possible answer I had to first define what transgender and cisgender are. According to Transgender Student Guidelines, transgender is a term that represents an individual who identifies differently from what his or her biological gender is. While cisgender is a term used to characterize individuals that identify as the gender he or she was assigned at birth. Some differences that transgender and cisgender youth experience during adolescence are: suicide rates, education, discrimination, bullying, and social …show more content…

According to a study by GLAAD, “…41% of transgender individuals attempt suicide, compared to 1.6 of the general population”. Potential causes are ignorance, lack of a friendly environment at school, and lack of non-discrimination laws and policies for transgender individuals. However, if schools and families would create a safe and discrimination free environment, that acknowledges transgender students and other children. The result would be a culture that teaches students and children to be mindful and respectful. If this happens, then there is potential that discrimination would decrease and social acceptance would increase.
To be clear, it was not a walk in the park to find a research topic. I first decided to research the history of LGBT because I wanted an easy A, but I soon realized that that topic was way too broad. Then, I decided to research the Stonewall Riots and how it has changed society in terms of today, but I found myself quickly uninterested. The last …show more content…

However, I did stumble upon a website titled, “National Equality Map| Transgender Law Center” created by Movement Advancement Project, and was has been updated within the last month (uniform resource locator, http://transgenderlawcenter.org/equalitymap). This website allowed me to view an interactive map of the United States, above the map there were four tabs labeled: “Overall Policy Tally”, “Sexual Orientation”, “Gender Identity”, and “State Data Table”. Each tab revealed percentages of states that have policies for sexual identity. It also revealed which states do and do not have laws or policies. The source is extremely important because it exposes how most states have negative policies towards transgender individuals, and it is up to date. I found this source to be needed because it really hits the nail on the head with evidence that transgender individuals are not protected, unlike their cisgender

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