In May 2014, Time magazine said that our society was on the verge of a "transgender tipping point." Since that time, especially after Caitlyn Jenner's recent coming out, the media seems obsessed with pushing the narrative that we are living in some kind of renaissance of trans rights. The International Business Times claimed that 2015 was “the year to be trans.” CNN claimed that Caitlyn Jenner’s coming out constituted our culture’s “transgender moment.”
The problem with the discourse around the "transgender tipping point" is that it makes it seem like trans people are enjoying unprecedented acceptance. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is true that trans people are experiencing increased visibility. However, trans people everywhere still face widespread discrimination and oppression. Trans people of color, in particular, feel the brunt of this oppression.
For every Caitlyn Jenner, there is an Eisha Love, a black trans woman thrown in prison for defending herself. There is a Monica Loera, shot to death in her own home. There is an Ashley Diamond, raped seven times after being placed with men in a state correctional facility. Stories like these happen all the time yet they are often not told.
The actual data on trans people paints a very bleak picture. Around 41 percent of trans people have attempted suicide.Trans people are four times more likely than cisgender people to live in poverty. Ninety percent of trans people experience workplace discrimination. Trans women are 1.8 times more likely to experience sexual assault. Trans people are seven times more likely to experience physical violence from the police. Trans people of color are six times more likely to experience police violence compared to cisgender, white people.
Violence is an especially important issue for trans people. Violence against trans women of color has reached epidemic proportions. Last year, 22 transgender women were killed in the U.S. and almost all of them were women of color. A 2014 report, from the Inter-American Commission on human rights determined that the average life-expectancy for a trans woman of color in the western hemisphere was a mere 35. I do not think we can say that we are witnessing a "transgender tipping point" when the average life expectancy for a trans woman of color is 35.
What is happening is that cis people are beginning to realize that trans people exist. But simply acknowledging the existence of trans identities is not nearly enough. A year or two of visibility will not suddenly change centuries of transphobic oppression. Acting like it does ignores the continuing struggles of trans people everywhere.
