Fenway Health Releases Transgender Awareness Week 2013 Infographic
Boston, MA (PRWEB) November 07, 2013 -- In recognition of the 2013 Transgender Awareness Week, November 11 - 17, Fenway Health has released an infographic highlighting health disparities faced by members of the trans community.
Transgender is an umbrella term for a diverse group of people whose gender identity or expression differs from societal expectations of how they should look, act, or identify based on the sex they were assigned at birth—such as male-to-female (MTF) and female-to-male (FTM) trans people, genderqueer individuals, and many others. Gender identity—a person’s innate identification as a man, woman, or something else, which may or may not correspond to the person’s external body or the sex listed on their birth certificate—is separate from sexual orientation. So while it's possible to identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual (or straight, asexual, or poly...) and be trans, they are not the same thing.
Although we often talk about the LGBT community as a whole, the transgender community—the “T” in LGBT—faces unique challenges in public understanding and acceptance, discrimination and legal protections, and health disparities stemming from all of the above.
--62% of transgender people have experienced depression and 41% admit to attempting suicide at some point in their lives;
--30% report smoking daily, compared to 20.6% of U.S. adults;
--26% report using drugs or alcohol, currently or in the past, to cope with discrimination;
--The rate of HIV infection in the trans community is 2.6%, compared to only 0.6% among the general population. Among black transgender people, the rate is an astounding 4.4%.
Transgender Awareness Week is an event started by the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition dedicated to educating about the transgender community and pressing issues facing trans people in Massachusetts.
The mission of Fenway Health is to enhance the well-being of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and all people in our neighborhoods and beyond through access to the highest quality health care, education, research and advocacy.
Chris Viveiros, Fenway Health, http://www.fenwayfocus.org, +1 (617) 721-7494, [email protected]
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