THE REPORT OF THE About the National Center for Transgender Equality The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is the nation’s leading social justice policy advocacy organization devoted to ending discrimination and violence against transgender people. NCTE was founded in 2003 by transgender activists who recognized the urgent need for policy change to advance transgender equality. NCTE now has an extensive record winning life-saving changes for transgender people. NCTE works by educating the public and by influencing local, state, and federal policymakers to change policies and laws to improve the lives of transgender people. By empowering transgender people and our allies, NCTE creates a strong and clear voice for transgender equality in our nation’s capital and around the country. © 2016 The National Center for Transgender Equality. We encourage and grant permission for the reproduction and distribution of this publication in whole or in part, provided that it is done with attribution to the National Center for Transgender Equality. Further written permission is not required. RECOMMENDED CITATION James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Rankin, S., Keisling, M., Mottet, L., & Anafi, M. (2016).The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality. The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey by: Sandy E. James Jody L. Herman Susan Rankin Mara Keisling Lisa Mottet Ma’ayan Anafi December 2016 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...............................................................................................................1 Executive Summary ...............................................................................................................3 Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 2: Methodology ..................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 3: Guide to Report and Terminology ...................................................................39 Chapter 4: Portrait of USTS Respondents .........................................................................43 Chapter 5: Family Life and Faith Communities .................................................................64 Chapter 6: Identity Documents .......................................................................................... 81 Chapter 7: Health ...............................................................................................................92 Chapter 8: Experiences at School .................................................................................... 130 Chapter 9: Income and Employment Status .................................................................... 139 Chapter 10: Employment and the Workplace .................................................................. 147 Chapter 11: Sex Work and Other Underground Economy Work ..................................... 157 Chapter 12: Military Service ............................................................................................. 166 Chapter 13: Housing, Homelessness, and Shelter Access ............................................. 175 Chapter 14: Police, Prisons, and Immigration Detention ................................................ 184 Chapter 15: Harassment and Violence ........................................................................... 197 Chapter 16: Places of Public Accommodation and Airport Security .............................. 212 Chapter 17: Experiences in Restrooms ............................................................................224 Chapter 18: Civic Participation and Policy Priorities ...................................................... 231 About the Authors ............................................................................................................. 241 Appendix A: Characteristics of the Sample .....................................................................243 Appendix B: Survey Instrument (Questionnaire) ........................................................... 250 Appendix C: Detailed Methodology ................................................................................ 291 Acknowledgements he report authors extend our gratitude to all the members of the transgender community who participated in the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey and the hundreds of individuals and organizations that made this T survey report possible. The following individuals in particular are recognized for their contributions during one or more stages of the process, including survey development, implementation, distribution, data preparation and analysis, and reporting: Osman Ahmed Andrew Cray Chai Jindasurat Gabriel Rodenborn M. V. Lee Badgett Kate D’Adamo JoAnne Keatley Shelby Rowe Kellan Baker Laura Durso Elliot Kennedy Brad Sears Genny Beemyn Jake Eleazer Paul Lillig Jama Shelton Aaron Belkin Gary J. Gates Emilia Lombardi Jillian Shipherd Walter Bockting Jaime Grant Jenifer McGuire Sharon Stapel Kyler Broadus Emily Greytak Ilan Meyer Michael Steinberger David Chae Ann Haas Shannon Price Minter Catalina Velasquez Cecilia Chung Jack Harrison-Quintana Aaron Morris Bianca Wilson Loree Cook Daniels Mark Hatzenbuehler Asaf Orr Kerith Conron Darby Hickey Dylan Orr Ruby Corado Lourdes Ashley Hunter Sari Reisner The authors extend special gratitude to the following individuals for their contributions to the project: Ignacio Rivera, Survey Outreach Coordinator, for leading the survey outreach efforts and building a network of individuals and organizations that led to the unprecedented levels of participation in this survey. Andrew Flores for assistance with questionnaire development and the weighting procedures to prepare the data for analysis. Daniel Merson for continued work in cleaning the data set, re-coding the data, and providing population numbers for comparative purposes in the final report. Michael Rauch for programming and implementation of the complex survey. Appreciation is also extended to NCTE interns, law fellows, staff, and volunteers who assisted ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS with the project, including outreach across the country, development of outreach materials, and translation: Bre Kidman Mati Gonzalez Gil Kory Masen Cullen O’Keefe Cyres Gibson Romeo Jackson Imari Moon Nowmee Shehab 1 A special thanks is also extended to USTS Interns, Fellows, and Assistants for their work at various stages of the project: Rodrigo Aguayo-Romero Shabab Mirza Jeymee Semiti Venus Selenite Willem Miller Davida Schiffer Danielle Stevens The authors also thank the USTS Advisory Committee (UAC) members, who devoted their time to the project by giving valuable recommendations around project development and community outreach: Danni Askini Brooke Cerda Guzman Angelica Ross Brynn Tannehill Cherno Biko Trudie Jackson Nowmee Shehab Thomas Coughlin Andrea Jenkins Stephanie Skora Additional acknowledgement goes to the more than 300 transgender, LGBT, and allied organizations that promoted and distributed the survey to its members throughout the country for completion. The authors also acknowledge current and former NCTE staff for their work on the project, particularly: Theo George and Vincent Villano for their pivotal work in survey project development and distribution through their respective roles in digital media and communication strategy. Arli Christian, Joanna Cifredo, K’ai Smith, and Harper Jean Tobin for their contributions as report co-writers, including lending their subject-matter expertise and analysis to the findings included in this report. Various individuals and firms assisted in spreading the word about the survey, both prior to and during the data collection phase, and they also assisted with survey translation, design, and reporting. Thanks goes to: Sean Carlson Anna Zuccaro ThoughtWorks Leah Furumo Design Action Collective TransTech Social Enterprises Molly Haigh Dewey Square Group ZERN Additionally, NCTE would like to express special appreciation to an anonymous donor for providing the largest share of the funds needed to conduct and report on the U.S. Transgender Survey. Other important funders were the Arcus Foundation, the Gill Foundation, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, and the David Bohnett Foundation. NCTE is also grateful to its other funders, many of which supported this project through general operating support, including the Ford Foundation, the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, and the Tides Foundation. Finally, NCTE would like to give special thanks to the National LGBTQ Task Force, for its previous partnership in conducting the National Transgender Discrimination Survey as a joint project from 2008 to 2011, as well as for its support of NCTE’s re-development of it as the U.S. Transgender Survey. 2015 U.S. TRANSGENDER SURVEY 2015 U.S. 2 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY USTS Executive Summary he 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS) is the largest survey examining the experiences of transgender people in the United States, with 27,715 respondents T from all fifty states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. military bases overseas. Conducted in the summer of 2015 by the National Center for Transgender Equality, the USTS was an anonymous, online survey for transgender adults (18 and older) in the United States, available in English and Spanish. The USTS serves as a follow-up to the groundbreaking 2008–09 National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS), which helped to