Matthew Shepard James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act Data Collection Provisions Takes Effect at the Beginning of the New Year

The Matthew Shepard James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA), which was passed in 2009, includes provisions for more comprehensive data collection practices by expanding options for categorizing a hate crime. Starting this year, “gender,” “gender identity,” “sexual orientation” and “disability” are four new categories that are included on the Hate Crime Incident Report, a standardized document used by law enforcement to report, track and code bias-related crimes. The new categories permit the incident report to be more comprehensive and inclusive.

This is one section of the old Hate Crime Incident Report Form. The new form will include options for “gender”, and “gender identity”.

Additionally, the Hate Crime Incident Report not only includes all of the above categories of hate crimes, but also contains separate sections under each of the four categories to allow for a more complete understanding of who is under attack. This portion of HCPA provides urgently needed education for police officers about transgender people in a way that did not exist before.

U of MN Medical School launches study of on-line of trans interactive health promotion program

This is a guest post from Chris J. Hoefer, project coordinator at All Gender Health Online.

The Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School recently opened recruitment for All Gender Health. This main trial launch is the culmination of a multi-year project funded by the National Institutes for Health to look at the health and well being of transgender people and their partners. One of the first projects to look at the community as a whole, surveying people across the gender spectrum, All Gender Health will be enrolling participants through mid-April 2012.

Previous phases of the All Gender Health project involved qualitative and quantitative data gathered from the male partners of trans people, which informed the development of the current and final phase. This final phase is the evaluation of a website comprised of 26 different modules designed by community members across the country. Designed to meet users where they are, allgenderhealth.org allows each participant to identify goals around topics such as resilience, community, transitioning, dating and sexual health negotiation. Users then craft a plan toward those objectives in a simple, individualized way.

Each participant who meets the study criteria and completes the first survey is randomly placed into either a test or control group. All users will be asked to complete three additional surveys, being compensated for each. Those who are randomized into the test group will also be asked to interact with the activities on the site. All participants can earn either $130 or $180 depending upon which group they have been randomly assigned.

The research team behind All Gender Health would appreciate the dissemination of this notice to all of our community partners:

Members of the transgender community are being invited to participate in the evaluation of an interactive website meant to promote the health of trans people and their partners. Participants can earn up to $180.00 by completing surveys and online activities on topics ranging from identity and community to intimacy and resilience.

Are you:

• 18 or older
• A transgender man or woman

Who:

• Has had unsafe sex with a non-trans man within the last 3 months
• Lives in the United States

If so, you’re invited to log onto www.allgenderhealth.org to see if you qualify to participate in the study.

This study is conducted by a team of researchers from the Program in Human Sexuality, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School with the support of a national, community Advisory Board.

NCTE on Advocate.com: 14 Reasons That Made 2011 Great for Trans People

The Advocate.com has published an op-ed from NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling on 14 cultural and political advancements that made 2011 great for trans people:

For eight years, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be doing trans social justice work. And as I look back at what has been accomplished, I can say that 2011 is especially marked by victory after victory. Most Americans now know a little bit more about the struggle trans people face. Every day people are becoming stronger trans allies. From the trans actors we are finally seeing on movie and television screens, to local nondiscrimination laws, and to the global call for LGBT rights, there is real change in nearly every facet of our lives.

Read the full article here.

New Report: Black Respondents in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey

Yesterday, with our friends at the Task Force and the National Black Justice Coalition, we released  new analysis of Black transgender respondents in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. The analysis is based on the experiences of 381 respondents who are Black or Black multiracial, and some of the results are startling:

• Black transgender people had an extremely high unemployment rate at 26 percent, two times the rate of the overall transgender sample and four times the rate of the general population.

• A startling 41 percent of Black respondents said they had experienced homelessness at some point in their lives, more than five times the rate of the general U.S. population.

• Black transgender people lived in extreme poverty with 34 percent reporting a household income of less than $10,000 per year. This is more than twice the rate for transgender people of all races (15 percent), four times the general Black population rate (9 percent), and eight times the general U.S. population rate (4 percent).

• Black transgender people were affected by HIV in devastating numbers. More than one-fifth of respondents were living with HIV (20.23 percent), compared to a rate of 2.64 percent for transgender respondents of all races, 2.4 percent for the general Black population, and 0.60 percent of the general U.S. population.

Download the report.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said

“This report confirms what we’ve long known to be true: being transgender and Black in the United States presents unique challenges on the path to full equality. This problem is deeply important to me and to NCTE where every day we hear from transgender people of color who survive in the face of racism and transphobia. This report should be a lesson to all of us that a world with transgender equality is a world with racial equality.”

Watch the video after the jump.

New Study Reveals Risks of Being Trans in Washington, DC

Yesterday, the DC Trans Coalition (DCTC) released findings of the first phase in its ongoing Needs Assessment Project, which revealed a high need for safety and security for DC transgender residents. Other primary concerns include housing stability, unemployment, and emotional well-being. Sadie Ryanne Vashti, DCTC organizer and former NCTE staff member, reports that sex work locations were central to the trans community. Vashti says, “participants overwhelmingly described the strolls as places where – despite the high chances of facing harassment or arrest – trans people go to look out for their friends, distribute resources, and support one another.”

This first phase of the study consisted of six roundtables with over 100 trans community members who came to 1) discuss questions they wanted to be included in the survey, and 2) map the areas of the city where they see themselves as “trans community members, living and working.” The study hopes to shed light on where and how transgender people access materials that reflect the needs of trans people in physical and mental health, employment, housing, and immigration.

Read the full report from the DC Trans Coalition here.

Here’s the HHS Plan on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Data Collection

Here are key timelines they’ve outlined for themselves in the plan:

• June – December 2011: Continue cognitive testing and begin field testing of sexual orientation data collection.
• Summer 2011: Conduct first roundtable on gender identity data collection. development. Complete initial development of sexual orientation data collection questionnaire.
• Winter 2011:  Conduct follow-up roundtable on gender identity data collection.
• Spring 2012 Conduct and complete initial field testing of sexual orientation data collection. HHS Data Council presents a strategy to include gender identity data collection in HHS surveys.
• Winter 2012: Conduct and complete large scale field test of sexual orientation data collection.
• 2013:  If the field test is successful, implement new data collection on sexual orientation into the full NHIS data collection.

Full plan here:

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