The Biggest Trans Survey in the US Is Underway - Here's Why It Matters
(CNN) -- Federal surveys like the US Census are gradually taking their transgender respondents into account. But they rarely ask specific questions unique to trans life: Have they been denied access to reproductive health care?
Is their life better than it was before they came out as trans?Enter the US Trans Survey, the largest survey in the country specifically geared toward trans and nonbinary people.
Conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and open until November 21, its results will be quoted by journalists, academics and legislators for the next five years.The survey is especially important now, given the intense focus on the rights of trans Americans in political arenas.
Trans residents of the US remain an understudied population that represents half a percent of all Americans -- there are an estimated 1.6 million trans people 13 and older living in the US, according to the Williams Institute, UCLA Law's LGBTQ think tank -- but continue to be targeted by lawmakers."This is the kind of data our community is desperate for, fighting against bigotry that trans people have to endure," said Josie Caballero, the director of the US Trans Survey and special projects at the NCTE. "This is a community-led survey by trans people, for trans people."What to expect on the US Trans SurveyThe US Trans Survey asks trans and nonbinary people an expansive range of questions about their experiences living in the US.
