How many trans people are there living in the United States? Enough to populate a city, according to a new study from UCLA’s Williams Institute. (And what a city that would be! It probably would have a lot less drama about bathrooms.)
There are 1.4 million adults who identify as trans, researchers say, or about .6% of the country’s population. North Dakota and Iowa have the lowers percentage (.3%), with California and Hawaii having the highest (.8%).
Presumably, the large cities are more hospitable — San Francisco, for example, probably has a higher concentration than Fresno. And while there may not be a ton of trans people in Washington state, for example, Seattle is one of the trans-friendliest cities in the world. (As evidenced by the outpouring of support after a trans person was bashed after a rally; that support probably wouldn’t exist in, say, Texarkana.)
At any rate, this is a pretty significant surge in the trans population. In 2011, the estimate was just 700,000. Why did the number jump? There are a bunch of likely contributing factors: more states are reporting relevant stats; more people are open about being trans; and more people are realizing that gender is not as simple as the form someone filled out on your birth certificate. Think back just a few years — even as recently as 2011, many trans people might not have even known that they could be trans. But with growing visibility, more and more people can now recognize a character like Nomi on Sense8 and say “hey, that’s kinda me.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
stadacona
Total rubbish and blatant propaganda.
ErikO
I also don’t believe this.
I have however met quite a number of people who at one time thought they were trans or could be trans, and they wound up just being drag queens or into imitating the opposite sex.
There are trans people but they’re in the extreme minority.
inbama
Of course it couldn’t have anything to do with the expansion of the “Transgender Umbrella” to include cross-dressers, gender queers, gender fluids, drag kings/queens, androgynes, butches, femmes – and treat all these “Gender Identities” with the seriousness once reserved for transsexuals and the Intersexed.
Ten more years of this, and we’re going to run out of letters.
gayhope1990
Kinda like a good bullshit
IDoNotHaveToAgreeWithYou
A huge overestimation but if this lie was true that still means 1.6 million mental cases cost tens of million of us job and housing protection by killing ENDA nearly a decade ago. They are a blight on gays and just a destructive force in general. Gays create. Trans destroy everything including their own bodies. Drop the T and save gay rights.
gayhope1990
@IdiotHavetoagreewith you:I have the same opinion on this topic.Many backslashes against lgb is caused by the trans agenda like bathroom issue.
IDoNotHaveToAgreeWithYou
@gayhope1990: That and they have outright sabotage us on many occasions. You saw it with marriage. They kept posting if we got it, then we wouldn’t fund or work on THEIR agenda anymore. You just can’t trust them. They are liars to the core. They even lie to themselves. Now you have this garbage where the military is going to pay for boob jobs for men, when war veterans with missing limbs and PTSD can’t get treated because the VA’s are so backed up and the backlash will fall on gays.
JessPH
The gender identity and bathroom issues are seriously affecting the advancement of gay, lesbian and bi rights. It’s time to drop the T.
Masc Pride
@inbama: Totally agree. A lot of this has to do with the terminology including more identities. I recently read about a new identity called “heteroqueer”, which apparently falls under transgender in a way I still don’t totally understand. 0.6 percent still seems like a stretch, but I’m sure they’ll be claiming six percent by the next study.
Kangol
What is with all the anti-trans rhetoric? Really, people? What have trans people done to you? You do realize that your transphobia is akin to hom0phobia, right? What are you so afraid of and why are so full of hate against trans people?
Goforit
@Kangol: Don’t bother Kangol. They have their little “Mean Girls Club” going on where they feel safe to display their bigotry. Much like Trump supporters, no amount of reason, logic or science is going to change their mind. It is better to spend our efforts to educate on others that may be more willing to listen.
jenbird
Still probably an underestimate, but we’re starting to get somewhere in people being able to be honest. Think of it as like gay liberation circa 1972…
Ksb1978
So many transphobobic cis fragile gays in here. I swear.
BriBri
Not really, we just don’t accept mental illness and lopping of a penis to plug in a vagina.