Transphobia

As well as increased risk of violence and other threats, the stress created by transphobia causes negative mental health outcomes and lead to drug use disorders, running away from home (in minors), and suicide.

[18][19] Transfeminist theorist and author Julia Serano argues that the root of transphobia is "oppositional sexism", i.e. the belief that male and female are "rigid, mutually exclusive categories, each possessing a unique and nonoverlapping set of attributes, aptitudes, abilities, and desires".

[21][22][clarification needed] Others have argued that hostility towards transgender identity is in part due to the challenge it poses to the idea that gender is based on observable physical and behavioral characteristics determined at birth.

[31] Transprejudice is a term similar to transphobia, and refers to the negative valuing, stereotyping, and discriminatory treatment of individuals whose appearance or identity does not conform to current social expectations or conventional conceptions of gender.

[55] Transgender people are regularly misgendered by doctors,[42] police, media, and peers, experiences that have been described as "mortifying",[56] cruel,[57] and "only making our lives harder".

Prison staff have been noted to frequently deny trans women privileges disproportionately, and the Eighth Amendment right for an individual not to be given cruel or unusual punishment has historically not been liberally enforced in cases involving transgender inmates.

An example of this is when far-right Twitter account Libs of TikTok made a series of posts spreading misinformation that Boston Children's Hospital was performing hysterectomies on minors.

Former US President Donald Trump claimed in a video posted to Truth Social on 31 January 2023, that "the left-wing gender insanity being pushed at our children is an act of child abuse" and that if re-elected, he would pass numerous laws significantly limiting gender-affirming care for minors.

[93] One study on Twitter found that use of the term "groomer" in tweets spiked on multiple occasions, including the passing of the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, the signing into law of said act, and Twitter posting a statement that tweets calling transgender or nonbinary people "groomers" violates its hate speech policy.

[94] Despite Twitter's prior public stance against transphobia and homophobia on its platform, the company was criticized by organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign for being inefficient.

These organizations oppose laws and policies intended to accommodate transgender people, such as allowing them to change their legal sex, use the washroom corresponding to the gender with which they identify, or become ordained Christian ministers.

[103] According to the Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance website, under Pope John Paul II, the Holy See first stated its opposition to reassignment surgery in 2000, although it was not made public until 2003.

Many transgender Christians seek out an "individualized relationship with God", often facing "a period of denial and struggle" as well as depression, disconnection, dissatisfaction, and spiritual difficulty before "discovering a sense of self that feels integral and true".

[112][113] Muslims for Progressive Values has founded Unity Mosques in Atlanta, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; and Los Angeles, California; as well as outside the United States.

[119] In 2013, she repudiated the interpretation of her text as an altogether condemnation of SRS, stating that her position was informed by accounts of gay men choosing to transition as a way of coping with societal homophobia.

"[11][137][138] Historian Joanne Meyerowitz documented transphobia within the gay rights movement in the mid 20th century in response to publicity surrounding the transition of Christine Jorgensen.

Jorgensen's precedent, he thought, encouraged the "reasoning" that led "to legal limitations upon the homosexual, mandatory injections, psychiatric treatment – and worse."

[150] In the early 1970s, conflicts began to emerge due to different syntheses of lesbian, feminist and transgender political movements, particularly in the United States.

[165] Research supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) assessed lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) adolescents and noted that those who had moderate to high, and steady or increasing rates of victimization or verbal or physical threats, were at heightened risk for developing PTSD.

[166] Relational and physical bullying victimization, as well as various other forms of emotional distress, are increasingly experienced by the transgender and gender diverse (TGD) adolescent population.

[167] Repeatedly, research on the effects of aggression and violence against TGD youth and young adults shows – when compared to their cisgender peers – higher rates of PTSD, depression, non-suicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation, intent, plan, and attempts, higher rates of substance use (cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana), trauma, skipping school due to safety concerns, and poorer health outcomes.

[177] In adulthood, the effects of aggression and violence against various groups of transgender people has also been documented in domains such as mental and physical health, and safety and discrimination in the military.

A systematic review completed in 2018 examined 77 studies that reported mental health disparities and social stress felt by TGD adults.

The analysis found associations between TGD identity and anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance use, and suicidality, as well as added social stress factors such as violence, discrimination, and exclusion.

Non-Hispanic Black transgender veterans are at increased odds of having an array of physical health issues/diseases, serious mental illnesses, alcohol use, tobacco use, homelessness, and previous incarceration when compared to the WTV.

[177] During the month prior to the survey, 39% of American transgender people experienced major psychological distress, compared to 5% of the general population of the United States.

The young adults in this group have shown a higher risk of engaging in unprotected receptive anal intercourse when the exposure to transphobia is high.

Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education conducted a nationwide survey on college campuses examining the psychological effects on transgender people, with a sample size of 86.

[191] In the United States, suicide attempts reported by transgender and gender nonconforming adults exceed the rate of the general population: 41% versus 4.6 percent.

Acts of transphobia such as undue denial of services, unfair dismissal from work places or stigmatization have far-reaching effects on the subjects such as low self-esteem, under-performance, stress, withdrawal or even depression.