Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The most recent nationwide study on the transgender community revealed there were
approximately 1.4 million people living in the United States that identified as transgender in
2014 and Arkansas was home to an estimated 13,400 people that identified as transgender,
(Flores, Herman, Gates, & Brown, 2016, p. 3). However, there is an increasing amount of
evidence that has found that the community’s numbers have increased since the last study was
conducted. Nonetheless, this indicates that there are over 13 thousand people living in Arkansas
that are being treated unequally because they do not fit the social standards of reining politicians
and society.
The Preamble to the United States Constitution (1787), the very framework of the United
States, states that the purpose of the governing document is to “form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” If the
freedom, then why are individuals being denied basic human rights? In addition to the United
States Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag states, “…, indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all.” However, the very government that upholds such strong themes of
interconnectedness and empowerment is the same government that is defending the alienation,
suppression, and prejudice treatment of members of the LGBTQ community by protecting laws
that discriminate against these individuals. The individuals that endure such bigotry are the same
individuals that are funding the salaries of the elite policymakers and saluting the same flag that
promises liberty and justice for all. This is heartbreaking and dishonorable.
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Federal Inequality
The Human Rights Campaign (2017) explains that “federal law does not provide consistent non-
discrimination protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity” and that individual
states are given the option to independently govern such laws. The laws in place to protect
against sexual orientation discrimination must specifically include gender identity in the
definition of sexual orientation. Presently, members of the transgender community are facing
discrimination in housing, employment, educational settings, and even in receiving medical care.
The American Civil Liberties Union (2017) explained that even though Medicare does cover
transition related hormone therapy, consumers are struggling to find surgeons that are willing to
Prevalence of Discrimination
The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) conducted research in 2015 that
examined the experiences of transgender people in the United States. The 27,715 respondents,
from all 50 states, took part in an anonymous, online survey that found a disturbing pattern of
discrimination and mistreatment among transgender people (James et al., 2016). According to
the study, 30% of respondents had experienced workplace discrimination, 40% had attempted
suicide, 46% had been verbally harassed, 58% reported mistreatment by police, 77% had
experienced discrimination while in school, and 59% of respondents had avoided using a public
Of the 27,715 surveyed in the NCTE study, only 222 of the respondents were from
Arkansas (James et al., 2016). The study found that of those 222 respondents, 37% lived in
poverty, 82% had been mistreated in school, 62% avoided using a public restroom, and 65% had
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experienced mistreatment by police (James et al., 2016). In addition to these statistics, the
Human Rights Campaign (2017) illustrates that Arkansas does not have laws that prohibit
identity. Arkansas also has no ban on insurance exclusions for transgender healthcare according
to the Human Rights Campaign (2017) data. However, according to government websites,
Arkansans can change their name and gender on government documents but they must attain
documentation from a surgeon to present to a judge that does have the right to deny the request.
A social problem can be defined as “an issue within the society that makes it difficult for
people to achieve their full potential” (Glicken, 2011, p. 6). The members of the transgender
community are unable to reach their full potential due to the amount of turmoil and oppression
they endure each day. To verbally or physically attack a fellow human-being for using a public
restroom is inhumane, regardless of what the symbol on the door may say. These attacks cause
considerable damage to the recipients. Research has found that mental health problems are more
prevalent in LGBT subpopulations and that “rates of co-occurring substance use disorders,
anxiety disorders, depression, and suicide tend to be higher for transgender people than for LGB
Social workers are committed to abide by the core values that have been
published in the profession’s code of ethics by the National Association of Social Workers. The
values listed in the code of ethics are service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person,
Workers, 2008). The ethical principles state that “social workers’ primary goal is to help people
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in need and to address social problems,” “to challenge injustice,” and to “respect the inherent
dignity and worth of the person,” (National Association of Social Workers, 2008). Ethically,
social workers have a responsibility to the transgender community and should advocate for the
basic human rights that every human deserves, regardless of any personal characteristics.
It is a grave injustice that the American government is sustaining the abuse that so many
individuals endure daily. The members of the transgender community are fellow humans and
American citizens that are hurting. If the administration is unwilling to stand up for the very
people they were employed to support then social workers must work harder to ensure the fair
treatment of these individuals, and not because it’s in the Social Work Code of Ethics, but
References
Flores, A. R., Herman, J. L., Gates, G. J., & Brown, T. N. (2016). How many adults identify as
transgender in the United States? (pp. 1-13, Rep.). Lose Angeles, CA: The Williams
Many-Adults-Identify-as-Transgender-in-the-United-States
Glicken, M. D. (2011). Social work in the 21st century: an introduction to social welfare, social
issues, and the profession (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Human Rights Campaign (2017). Advocating for LGBTQ Equality. Retrieved from
http://www.hrc.org/
James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Rankin, S., Keisling, M., Mottet, L., & Anafi, M. (2016,
December). The report of the 2015 U.S. transgender survey (Rep.). Retrieved
http://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS%20Full%20Report%20-
%20FINAL%201.6.17