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Attempted Suicide Rate for Multiracial Transgender People Thirty-three Times Higher than General Population

Racism and transphobia are deeply impacting the lives of multiracial (people of more than one race) transgender people in the US according to a new factsheet co-created by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and The Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC).

The fact sheet, the final installment of the Trans Justice/Racial Justice series based on the landmark report, Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, indicates that multiracial transgender people are experiencing disproportionately higher levels of attempted suicide, poverty and unemployment.

“This is a wake-up call: racism and anti-trans discrimination together are having an appalling impact on multiracial transgender people’s lives, and it has to stop,” said Darlene Nipper, Task Force Deputy Executive Director. “Transgender people deserve a fair shot at the American Dream including access to good jobs that are free from discrimination. That’s why we need politicians to listen to the American public and pass important pieces of legislation such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act now.”

Specifically, the new factsheet shows that over half (54%) of multiracial respondents reported having attempted suicide, compared to 41% of all study respondents and 1.6% of the general U.S. population.

Multiracial transgender and gender non-conforming people often live in extreme poverty, with 23% reporting a household income of less than $10,000/year. This is higher than the rate for transgender people of all races (15%), the general U.S. multiracial population rate (15%), and almost six times the general U.S. population rate (4%).

The one piece of good news in the report is that 37% of multiracial respondents reported experiencing significant family acceptance, and over half (61%) reported that their relationships with family slowly improved over time after coming out as transgender. Those respondents who were accepted by their families were much less likely to face discrimination and reported lower rates of homelessness, attempted suicide and HIV/AIDS.

The new factsheet completes a series of five spotlighting the experiences of Black respondents with the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC); Latino and Latina respondents with the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC); Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander respondents with the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA); and American Indian and Alaskan Native respondents.