My research focuses on measuring and understanding public attitudes towards transgender people. Through both primary and secondary research that I conducted last semester in my Intermediate Writing course, my work examines the constant struggles that transgender people face, specifically in the United States, in the hopes of informing and educating the public and bringing about legal and social change. A wide spectrum of opinions surrounds this topic, and I wish for my work to bring light to the discrimination against transgender people, as well as contribute to the conversation by illuminating reasons why the statistics and discrimination exist.
The amount of legal/financial support for transgender people will always be a relevant topic, both in private and public spheres. People will continue fighting for/against laws giving civil liberties to transgender people, like using their preferred bathroom or which insurance companies will cover transition costs and to what extent. This topic is important because even though society is slowly progressing toward equal treatment of LGBT persons, transgender people are one of the subgroups that are frequently forgotten and discriminated against in most aspects of their lives. It is not common to hear transgender success stories; my hopes in presenting this research are to bring awareness to the lack of support transgender people have, and to help advocate for better opportunities for them. I also have a personal stake in this topic; I am a female-to-male transgender student, so this information is relevant to me and my transgender friends.
My research focuses on the financial and social struggles of transgender people, and the emotional impacts that these struggles have on transgender people. I measured the financial costs of transitioning without insurance, as well as analyzed the overarching social opinions toward transgender and how those things affect their decisions and struggles. I believe that my work will build upon research that supports the difficulties of being transgender. However, it will also challenge the work that claims that being transgender is unnatural, irredeemable, an active choice, and downright disgusting (most of which is not scientifically based, but my work will challenge it nonetheless).
My main thesis and research question call into question why these things are the way they are, socially and financially. One component of my research is original, which I completed partially last semester and am excited to expand on it for this presentation. I created a survey to distribute to my fellow students to measure their attitudes towards transgender people. Most of the survey questions are multiple choice or a spectrum of possible attitudes, in an attempt to gauge how the general student body feels about transgender peers. The goal of this research is to see if Adrian College has a transgender-friendly student body, which would support/deny the argument in my paper that states how difficult it is to be transgender because many people are either strongly opposed or they do not understand and, therefore, do not care.
