Quick Facts

Violent crime targeting transgender people remains a regular reality in Texas. From 1970 to 2004, Texas ranked third in the U.S. for reported murders of transgender individuals. More than a third of such cases remain unsolved. Transgender people are often targeted for violence based on their non-conformity with gender norms and/or their perceived sexual orientation. Hate crimes against transgender people tend to be particularly violent.
It is very difficult to get, or keep, a job if a person’s gender identity/expression differs from the gender marker on their driver’s license or birth certificate. Changing gender markers on state documents would alleviate much of this problem. Many transgender people are fired the moment they broach the subject of transitioning with their employer. Because of the difficulty of keeping a job with non-representative identification documents, a large percentage of transgender people experience economic distress, joblessness, underemployment and homelessness.
Transgender people throughout Texas are excluded from the health insurance industry and/or denied coverage for medically necessary procedures at alarming rates. Specifically, transgender people applying for individual health insurance plans are facing rejections from many health insurance providers and health service plans. People who are denied coverage for medically necessary procedures simply because of their gender identity/expression have found themselves humiliated when seeking coverage for basic gynecological care, for instance. Therefore they are forced to either defer seeking care or pay “out of pocket” for care that should already be covered by their monthly premiums.
Transgender people experience a heightened risk of poverty and homelessness due to:

employment discrimination;
lack of economic/housing support from family;
lack of education and training because of harassment or discrimination, which results in an inability to acquire jobs;
inability to access standard healthcare due to discrimination by providers;
unwillingness of insurance companies to cover almost all transgender-related health care;
inability to pay for transgender-related healthcare such as hormones, counseling, and gender reassignment procedures;
discrimination by housing providers and landlords; and
discrimination by social service agencies.

Transgender people have a very difficult time accessing homeless shelters that are safe for them. Nearly all homeless shelters in Texas are segregated by sex, and transgender people are often not allowed to be housed with the appropriate sex. If a shelter accepts transgender residents at all, often shelters require genital surgery before admitting them. Transgender women who are required to stay in men’s facilities report that they are sexually propositioned, verbally harassed, and sometimes assaulted. Even when people are allowed to be housed in the facility based on the gender with which they self-identify, some facilities need to increase the safety and privacy of the environment.