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Why does Transgendered Youth Unemployment matter? In the past, transgender people are a minority group in the society because it was really unacceptable at that time as no one understood them. Their identities have to keep secret. Even in the United State, the most free and liberal country, this problem of discrimination still exist. Nowadays, the member of this group increases substantially, which thus lead to more concerned issue for the society. Transgender people tend to reveal their true preference and call for the equal rights. Many people in the society are more familiar with those transgender people than in the past; however, the transgender discrimination still persists. According to the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) National School Climate Survey (2001)1, transgender children are often viewed as odd or deviant even from early childhood. As a result, transgender children often begin hiding their true selves to try to gain acceptance and approval; they learn to pretend and then end up feeling like counterfeits and have difficulty finding anything about themselves about which they can take pride or feel confident. Because they don't fit in and become frequent targets, transgender children frequently become loners and spend much of their childhood in isolation. As shown below, the example of harassment that Lawrence, the transgender youth, faced in her high school. School was. Hell. No one wanted to sit near me in the cafeteria. No one wanted to talk to me. I was treated like I had leprosy of AIDS. I was the freak kid. Kids would say, Oh, hi ,Lawrence. And I would speak back. And, oh my God, you sound just like a girl. Guys wanted to pick fights. People would say just a whole bunch of vulgar things to me. Every day Id come home from school cryin. Kids would yell from the school bus, Faggot! Throw stuff out of the windows. Make me hate kids, hate school, hate life."2 -- Lawrence, 19 year old transgender youth Children who grow up with gender confusion almost always have serious self-image and self-esteem problems because they do not feel comfortable with their bodies and do not fit in with their peer group. If they show that they are transgender, they will surely experience harassment, same as Lawrence. This made them do not want to go to school because they feel unsafe. The 2005 National School Climate Survey found that "transgender students are at higher risk of dropping out of school and of suicide".3 For those reasons above, most of transgender

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people are less likely to have a good education attainment. Often compounded by family rejection, transgendered youth may forced to leave their home communities and survive on the streets. Not many transgender people have high skill and ability. They are unable to find jobs not because they have low levels of education compare to other, but because many jobs are not available for them. Luckily transgender people who have supportive families and friends may have high skills and competence, and may graduate from top 10 universities of the country; however, they are not allowed to work in many occupations such as a cop, ambassador, doctor, just because they are transgender. Heinze, J.(2009) found from his research that most successful transgendered people is in an entertainment industry such as fashion designer, makeup artists and costume manager. Well, we rarely saw the transgender as a CEO, a lawyer or professor in the university. Because of this perception, transgender people have no incentive to study hard and then have lower skills as a result. The present of discrimination in the school is just the point of departure, reflecting the terminal station which is in the workplace. After they graduated, they still face the same problem or even severe. Many trans youth experience harmful work environments that include being gossiped about by co-workers, asking invasive questions about surgeries, ridicule and harassment. Some trans youth fear being physically attacked on the job. Breaches of confidentiality can leave trans youth feeling vulnerable and exposed. Being mis-gendered or questioned about their gender and acts of overt hostility may also come from customers. These experiences can become unbearable and trans youth are often left with no choice but to quit their jobs. Some people may not want to quit but they got fired; "We don't want you to work here because it makes our clients uncomfortable".4 According to the National Transgender Discrimination survey(2009), "forty-seven percent of 6,450 survey respondents experienced an adverse job action only because they are transgenderthey did not get a job, were denied a promotion or were firedthat directly impacted their employment status"5. In addition, the unemployment rate of transgender people are doubled of the national average.

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We can see that social situations can be extremely difficult for someone identifying as a transgender person. Transgendered discrimination, which severely than women discrimination, is showing us today a case to be studied in a wide range of scope. Many human rights institutes and other transgender equality organizations have taken many serious steps towards human dignity, including gender discrimination, for liberty and for human rights. From the Youth Gender Action Project (Y-GAP), they suggest that employer to open up their mind and help solving this issue. There are many additional things that employers can do to be supportive and to provide a positive work environment for trans employees. Most changes are easy to implement, simple, and require no new resources. It begins with creating awareness among staff and leading from a vision of providing inclusive working environments for all because "Everyone has the right to a safe and healthy workplace."6 Moreover, the human right institutions can support those transgendered by breaking down career barriers that exist and change the social norms; "When you empower marginalized people you empower the whole culture, you enrich the life of everyone."7 The role of government is very important for this issue by setting the laws to improve the rights of those people. This make them feel more acceptable by everyone in the society and feel more secure by the protection. As a result of setting the laws, many trans people get hired and have more opportunity to find a job. However, the role of everyone in the society is even more important. If people in the society open their mind and change their negative thoughts about transgendered people, there is no need for any institution or organization to solve this problem. Everyone should respect to those transgendered people as our fellowmen; no one deserves to be treated unequally. Finally, before doing anything to those transgendered people ,one should put himself in their shoes. Is it really a right thing to discriminated against someone who likes grey over black or white? Just imagine.

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Bibliography Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). (2001), "National School Climate Survey", a study conducted among 496 youth across 32 states accessing community based services. Shannon Minter, The Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Questioning Youth: Key Issues Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. National Conference of State Legislatures.(2005), "Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Transgender and Questioning Youth" , from http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/gay-lesbianbi-transgender-and-questioning-yout.aspx Faith Cotter, " Transgender people seek workplace fairness", Pittsburgh PostGazette, November 16, 2011. National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, "National Transgender Discrimination survey", November 2009. Shawna Virago from Community United Against Violence (CUAV) at San Francisco Human Rights Commission LGBT Advisory Committee Meeting Sept. 24, 2002. Peck of Wilkinsburg, " Transgender people seek workplace fairness", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 16, 2011.
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