Living Trans

"Dear, I think I'm a transsexual."

This is what Rita Loy said when she first came out to her wife. Loy spent 55 years as a male, and when on the verge of committing suicide, she came to accept her true identity: "I always knew something was wrong, what that problem was, I could never put a word on it," she says, "There were things I wanted to do that I wasn't allowed to do, especially if they involved what was considered gender non-conforming."

Recent news about transgender individuals in the military has veterans like Loy very concerned. In late July, President Donald Trump attempted to issue a ban on transgender individuals from serving in the United States military. The proposed ban, announced via Twitter, has not been implemented by the Pentagon. Trump now faces a civil lawsuit from some transgender individuals currently serving in the military.

The military ban is far from the only problem the transgender community is confronting. Transgender individuals face the possibility of losing their livelihoods by accepting their true gender identity. From unaccepting family members to limited economic opportunities, these individuals struggle with many obstacles over the course of their lives. In Los Angeles, the transgender community is disproportionately represented among the city's homeless, and the number of transgender homeless is continuously rising.

More than dozen interviews, many with transgender individuals, were able to establish a foundation to answer the question: why is this happening? The respondents include a sex worker who is currently suffering from homelessness, a lawyer who is starting a new journey in employment and civil rights law, and Loy, a veteran of the United States Navy. The commonality among these individuals is the challenges they have once standing face-to-face with who they really are.

Finding and keeping a job

Employment and financial stability are essential in society in order to be able to live a certain standard of life. There is an apparent inequality of opportunity in employment between cisgender and transgender individuals. Cisgender refers to people whose gender identity coincides with their gender assignment at birth.

Of the transgender people interviewed, more than half reported dealing with unemployment or workplace discrimination due to their transitional journeys, including Loy. Loy started appearing more feminine by wearing makeup to work, and she says her manager did not know how to "handle the situation;" she ultimately lost her job in a retail corporate office.

"Unfortunately [it's] very common in the trans community that not only do we tend to lose jobs, [we also] have a hard time getting them, because they won't admit that the reason they won't hire you is [because you're] transgender," Loy says.

Drew Pinon is a teenager from east Los Angeles who identifies as a transgender male. He says he has had 30 jobs since entering the workforce just two years ago. "[Employers] only take me in for about week or so, but they always end up saying something that doesn't make sense," he says, "I see that it's just because I'm trans, because they treat me differently from other coworkers."

Drian Juarez attests, "Many of us, especially trans women of color are often forced into the street economy, into sex work, because no one will hire us. Many of the barriers have to do with passing privilege. If you have passing privilege then people don't read you as trans and that doesn't become a barrier to you getting a job." Juarez is the program manager for the Transgender Economic Empowerment Project for the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

Passing is the ability to be regarded as a member of an identity group without question. Juarez affirms that passing privilege is important for the transgender community: "When we transition that's one of the first things we notice, that we lose that privilege of just being able to walk down the street without people bothering you, that we're able to use the restroom without people freaking out and calling the police...or having your identity pronoun honored or not called into question.

"So for us passing privilege either means I get to live my life, and nobody bothers me. Or if I don't get passing privilege, it means at every step [after] I leave my home, I never know how the world is going to interact with me or whether they will honor my identity," she says.

Passing is extremely important with regard to finding and retaining a job. "Think about it: look into a trans girl's head. What is going all through her head? What should I wear? Do I look passable enough? Do I look good? Does this fit me? Does this make me feel slim? What makeup should I have? Should I do this, do that," stresses Malasha Alarcon. Alarcon is a transgender homeless woman who has been living on the streets for the past five years.

Often transgender women are forced into sex work because of limited job opportunities. Ultimately, this cast rings true for Alarcon, as well. She is proud of who she is and the nature of her job; nevertheless, she discusses how much she yearns for a "chance to actually do something right with [her] life." When asked if she feels if sex work is the only viable job she can get, she responded, "There's you, a cis gendered woman, and then there's me. Who are they going to pick at a job? Who are they going to want to look at more?"

Alarcon mentions that at one time she was a prospective student of USC, having received a full-ride scholarship only to throw it away: "I just think if I had someone [while I was] growing up that actually had my back and made me feel like I was worth it, I think I probably would have went through with my scholarship to USC."

"Your time is up"

Kaleef Starks has lived in Los Angeles for close to 10 years. While she did not express issues with acquiring a job for being a transgender woman, she did however suffer from sexual harassment in the workplace. Starks also referred to getting "clocked" by a coworker, as well: "For the trans community, getting 'clocked' basically means getting found out...also too, clocked is kind of like 'your time is up.'"

Source: William's Institute, UCLA School of Law

On average, the transgender community is more than twice as likely to live in poverty than the general population. 29% of transgender individuals live in poverty compared to only 14% within the entire U.S. population, according to the 2015 National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS).

The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) has conducted the NTDS each year since 2008. In 2015, they received more than 27,000 responses. 30% of those respondents reported having been homeless at some point in their lifetime. The survey also revealed that transgender people of color "experience deeper and broader patterns of discrimination than white respondents and the U.S. population." The unemployment rate for transgender people of color was four times higher than the remainder of the U.S. at the time of the survey.

These results are alarming.

"When you cannot get a good job for you, you have a problem, because you don't have access to a really good education, [healthcare or a home], a really good quality of life. I think that can be the problem," infers Dayana Blanco, an LGBT international student at USC.

Alone without a home

Around the corner from the Los Angeles LGBT Center on Highland Avenue, Alarcon says hello to a couple familiar faces from the Center. She sports a tank top and leggings and walks around in socks while holding her fairly new converse sneakers. Alarcon is excited to see the camera taking footage of the LGBT Center and excitedly asks, "What are you filming?"

After being informed of the subject of this project, she responds with such passion, identifying herself as a huge advocate for this community. Alarcon describes her current living situation: "I had an apartment in San Diego, but it's not the place I want to be. I stay on the streets right now. I don't have family. I don't really have friends out here. It's hard being a trans girl."

Source: William's Institute, UCLA School of Law

Without guidance or a support system, Alarcon found herself in one of the lowest points of her life. She mentions having attempted suicide on at least three occasions, and it was not until one of her best friends died that she decided to turn things around. Alarcon says she was recently released from incarceration and is now back on the streets as a sex worker. She emphasizes, "If I just had someone who said it's going to be okay, you can do this. It's okay to be normal and get a career. I think I probably would have been off the streets."

The transgender homeless population more than doubled in some Los Angeles city districts, according to the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority (LAHSA). City district 4, a large area covering Koreatown, Sherman Oaks, Hollywood and Griffith Park, saw a skyrocketing increase of over 427% within their transgender homeless population.

Unemployment isn't the only cause of the increase in transgender homelessness. Challenges in renting or owning a home are also to blame. The NCTE found that "one in five transgender people in the United States has been discriminated when seeking a home, and more than one in 10 have been evicted from their homes, because of their gender identity."

Lack of understanding and rejection by family members is one of the causes of youth homelessness amongst the transgender community. After leaving her father and brother in Fresno, Kaleef Starks moved to Los Angeles, hoping for a new life and acceptance from her mother. Unfortunately, her gender identity drove a wedge between her and her mother, and ultimately, she ended up on the streets at 17 with nowhere to go. Nevertheless, Starks triumphed and was accepted to college.

A few years later, she found herself on the streets again without support from her family or a place to live. Starks was referred to the Covenant House of California, a homeless shelter, and became one of their success stories. She is now in her own apartment and eager to go back to school. While relations have improved with her father, she still does not have a relationship with her mother.

"Do Your Service"

Rita Loy was a Gunner's Mate - Third Class, having served in the United States Navy for four years and being honorably discharged. "I try my best to be a non-conformist, so what did I do in the navy? I worked on the ship's guns, everything from the pistols up to the main batteries," she reminisces. Loy served in the 1970s, a time where "if they found out about you it wasn't 'don't ask, don't tell,' it was goodbye. You kept your mouth shut. If you were gay, you could be kicked out."

During the Obama administration, the "don't ask, don't tell" ban was lifted in 2011 and the transgender military ban was lifted in 2016. One year later, President Trump argued in his tweet that the military's budget cannot afford transition surgeries. Nevertheless, the United States military spends 10 times more on erectile dysfunction than on healthcare services for transgender troops, according to the Military Times. A previous article by the Military Times reported that the military spent over $84 million on erectile dysfunction medications for active-duty troops, eligible family members and retirees in 2014.

Sarah Ann Scott is a California lawyer who is transgender, herself. She is "determined to join in the fight for gender equality" through employment law and civil rights work. Scott became extremely passionate when asked her feelings about Trump's transgender military ban: "Trump is creating a bunch of distractions. I think he's just throwing a bunch of smoke bombs," she says in a phone interview.

Scott also brought up Kristin Beck, formally Christopher Beck, who was a member of the Navy Seal elite team 6 and served 20 years in the U.S. military. Scott wants to ensure people know about transgender military personnel and see they are capable of serving in the military; they deserve to serve their country and should be honored for doing so.

A 2015 RAND study estimates that there currently are between 1,320 and 6,630 active transgender military service members, less than 1% of the entire active duty population. RAND is a research organization dedicated to developing solutions for public policy challenges. There are an estimated 1,510 transgender individuals in the Selected Reserve, also less than 1% of the entire reserves. Another study by the NCTE approximates that there are over 130,000 transgender veterans.

At the time of the RAND study, 18 countries allowed transgender individuals to serve openly in the military, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Case studies for these countries show that there is no negative impact on the operational effectiveness, operational readiness, or cohesion of the force.

According to Business Insider, Beck believes that Trump's announcement will shy potentially qualified people away from enlisting in the military. Beck was deployed 13 times over her tenure in the military, including trips to Afghanistan and Iraq, and received the Bronze Star award and a Purple Heart. "Let's meet face to face and you tell me I'm not worthy," Beck told Business Insider, "Transgender doesn't matter. Do your service."

Drew Pinon, the Los Angeles native, had interest in pursuing a career within the military prior to Trump's announcement. In response, he expresses, "I thought it wasn't fair, because I was planning on joining the army...I was pretty upset about it. Imagine if I actually did join? What would they have done?"

Open Minds, Open Doors

The evidence demonstrates that an inequality exists in the workplace and across the board between cisgender and transgender people. Juarez asserts that we live in a "heteronormative society," meaning the idea that heterosexuality is not only preferred, but viewed as normal in society.

The notion that transgender individuals make a 'choice' to transition to another gender is completely absurd. Who would knowingly predispose themselves into a life where discrimination, unemployment, and homelessness are all potential realities? The common thread within this community is their eagerness to be treated simply as fellow human beings.

Starks is an example of someone who, despite many challenges, has continued to focus on new possibilities. She lights up as she talks about her passion for journalism and how much she enjoys writing for her blog. She waves goodbye as she steps on to the metro adjacent to the USC campus, and it seems as if her journey to achieving her dream of becoming a talk show host would take off from there.

"I think that if cis people could get to that place of 'you know, they deserve rights like we have.' Everybody has an identity that is affected in some way," she says, "So I wish that cis people could realize 'okay, what identity do I have where it has kind of hindered me in some way? What is it that I can do to kind of just put myself in their shoes?'

"And be like: 'Okay I understand your struggle, or I want to understand your struggle, and I'm going to help you, I'm going to open that door for you.'"