By Jeremiah Ancheta

The Current State of the Data on the Trans Community

According to the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), “Transgender people, and the issues they face, are under-studied because surveys of the general population rarely ask whether a respondent is transgender.” Furthermore, “Without including questions to determine whether a person is transgender on general population surveys, we lack official information about unemployment rates, income and poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, and all other data that are regularly measured in the general population.”

This point is echoed by the U.S. Foundation Funding for Trans Communities, stating that “Many federal programs and major surveys do not collect data on gender identity. This lack of data has made it difficult to identify and fully understand the unique needs of transgender communities.”

The Importance of Data Collection

As noted above, the lack of data on transgender people has made it difficult to accurately identify and understand the depth of the issues they face. As such, it is clear that the more data we have on trans people, the better we are able to understand their plights and act accordingly to deal with those issues.

For instance, let’s consider the importance of data collection in other social spheres. This article by the NCBI notes that “Racial and ethnic disparities in health have been extensively documented… Making progress toward the goal of eliminating disparities will require widespread, reliable, and consistent data about the racial and ethnic characteristics of the U.S. population.”

Insofar as there are health disparities between the trans community and the general population (and there definitely are), then eliminating these disparities will also require collecting reliable and consistent data on trans people.

The health sphere is only one kind of the many disparities between transgender people and the general population. Other disparities include suicide risk and ideation, being victims of violent crimes, and being at greater risk of unemployment and poverty.

Next Steps

First, we encourage transgender people to participate in the NCTE’s United States Transgender Survey (USTS). The 2015 USTS has been to date the largest national survey that has collected information on transgender people, covering their experiences and the issues they face. The next one started in October 2022. The more transgender people that participate in the survey, the more accurate data we will have on the community.

Second, we call for more investigations and research into transgender people and the issues they face. As noted above, transgender people and the issues they face are under-studied.