There are Fewer Transgender People than People Assume
Despite the widespread culture wars and discrimination focused on the trans community, they actually make up a tiny slice of the population
Hiya!
Our global cultural society is undergoing some pretty massive transformations, especially in the United States. It’s clear now that “the way things have always been” isn’t working anymore. Lots of massive changes need to happen for us to adapt to modern times and face modern threats. But there are some people, powerful people, who do not want things to change. Instead, they seek to divide and encourage us to discriminate against each other.
Many of us have the privilege of ignoring the culture wars raging against the LGBTQA+ and other minority communities right now. But we shouldn’t. The transgender community is a minority group in need of protection, not villainization. Especially when discrimination rises to the point of implementing policies railing against what politicians call “transgender ideology.”
Fewer than Assumed
If you don’t already know, a transgender person is someone whose gender identity (as in their psychological sense of gender) differs from the sex they were assigned at birth (which is based on a person’s external genitalia.) Based on the amount of attention the trans community is getting right now, you might assume they make up a decent slice of the population. But let’s take a look at some numbers.
In 2022, a study by the UCLA Williams Institute showed that around 0.5 percent of American adults identified as transgender — about 1.3 million people. Comparatively, nearly 300,000 American youth identified as transgender, or about 0.6 percent of American youth. So, in total, about 1.6 million people aged 13 years and older in the U.S. identified as transgender — or about 0.4 percent of the total U.S. population in 2022.
Also, in 2022, the Pew Research Center discovered:
“that 1.6% of U.S. adults are trans or nonbinary, and the share is higher among adults younger than 30. More than four-in-ten U.S. adults know someone who is trans and 20% know someone who is nonbinary.”
While most people identify with being with either a man or a woman, or male or female, a nonbinary person does not feel they align with any single category. The research suggests that less than 2 percent of the United States population identifies as transgender or nonbinary. It also shows a slightly larger percentage among youth. While some may argue that means transgenderism is “on the rise,” I have a different theory.
It seems more likely to me that as the transgender community becomes more visible and, ideally, accepted, more people will feel safer sharing their experiences and identifying as part of the trans community. Similar to what occurred over the years as the gay and lesbian communities became more culturally accepted.
In other words, it’s not that suddenly there are more people “turning” transgender, but that more people are willing to be honest about who they are rather than hide themselves to fit in with the masses. Regardless, considering the trans community appears to be much smaller than many assume, it seems a little wonky that politicians are putting so much effort into villainizing them.
In Case You Missed It
As of writing this, Trans Legislation Tracker registers 566 bills that have been proposed across 49 States in the United States seeking “to block trans people from receiving basic healthcare, education, legal recognition, and the right to publicly exist.” So far, 125 of the bills have (thankfully) failed, but 83 have passed and are now laws, and 358 haven’t been decided yet.
For comparison, one year ago, in 2022, there were a total of 174 bills proposed, and 26 of them passed. This year’s numbers are a huge escalation, and one very few people are paying attention to. Instead, the media would rather feed factless fears to their bases about imaginary dangers and conspiracies about the indoctrination of children or worse. I won’t get into them because I don’t want to breathe any life into such hatred.
Especially since, did you know, the first-ever U.S. transgender population health survey was published in July 2023? It was completed by researchers at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, Columbia University, Harvard University, and The Fenway Institute at Fenway Health, and well, I’m sorry to get grim, but they discovered that:
81% of transgender adults in the U.S. have thought about suicide, 42% of transgender adults have attempted suicide, and 56% have engaged in non-suicidal self-injury over their lifetimes.
These statistics might seem a little shocking, but they’re less so when you consider their perspectives. I mean, no matter who you are, it’s challenging to be considered different than other people, cast as an outsider, or just not be accepted for who you are — regardless of how you identify. But to tack on constant discrimination, including making discrimination legal, taking away their rights, and subjecting them to constant acts of violence or death just for existing? Then the statistics are less surprising.
And it’s all because people are afraid of what they don’t understand.
Perspective Shift
I just don’t understand the point of discriminating against people just because they look, love, or identify differently. I mean, can anyone really still assume that all Humans are alike? We may all belong to the same species, but we don’t all look alike — we come in various shapes, sizes, and colors.
Our insides are different, too — we don’t all think the same way, learn the same way, or remember the same event the same way. Not the mention the incredible spectrum of neural divergence. And, of course, we have different rationales, philosophies, beliefs, and values. In short, the Human species is a diverse mixture of subjective experiences, and this is a good thing. Our diversity is our strongest asset.
Wouldn’t our energies be better spent finding solutions to actual problems our culture faces — like rising authoritarianism and violence, or, you know, global warming — rather than endangering or restricting the rights of entire minority communities…for what? Existing? Being different than we are? Seems a little pointless to me.
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I know you know this, but it helps me to vent it.... Unfortunately, the culture wars are more insidious than fact driven. I've read from many sources that the flames are being fanned by wealthy forces on the right who know they'd never win another election if only economic policies were at issue. So they spread misinformation to prey on and appeal to people's ignorance and intolerances to "psyop" them at an emotional level into voting against their own economic interests and keeping in power politicians who cater only to those wealthy forces. The right will never end the culture wars because they need to stoke them continually to stay in power, just like the industrial-military complex needs cold wars and foreign enemies to keep their outsized largesse of taxpayer revenues flowing. Getting the true facts out there as you have done here is vital, and thankfully political commentators are getting the word out that American voters are being played. Hopefully a continuous drumbeat of the truth from both will penetrate the popular psyche until the fake culture wars fade out from lack of oxygen. Ahh, I feel a little better now! Thanks for the vehicle! -A