Prison is not the only place where gender identity is not respected, and therefore not the only place where people with different gender identities are put at risk for harm. Another area is rehab. I had a good friend who during their transition relapsed and then went through various rehab systems. I remember one of the last times that I saw him, him complaining about the fact that he was placed with the wrong gender.
I cannot speak for him, and I cannot speak for the trans experience. However, I can’t help but to think that a systematic disrespect of something so important as gender identity can only rehab much harder than it already is.
I also wonder if without this added stress, if this friend might have been more likely not to relapse again and overdose and die.
For me, this was one of those years in which my community experienced a huge amount of loss, and a good portion of those deaths were people who were trans. I can’t help but wonder if our system for housing, health-care and more were more tolerant and respectful, that some of these untimely deaths might not have happened.
Overall, the biggest change that needs to happen is overall societal and cultural respect and tolerance. Numerous public health studies depict the reasons why one person is more likely to be at risk than another person, and the reasons why someone is more at risk than someone else point to factors beyond education and access to health-care. It is about the stress that is built into daily existence within a judgemental society – specifically a racist, classist, etc society.
Perhaps the two go hand in hand. If both systematic and societal tolerance were in place, many people’s lives would be very different. And if in situations such as rehab and prison, someone’s gender identity were to be respected, then perhaps there would be less sexual assault, and less overdose deaths.
These people are doing good work around this issue:
Transgender, Gender Variant & Intersex Justice Project
http://www.tgijp.org/
