Current State: Survival
- Since January of 2023 alone, 549 anti-trans bills have been introduced in 49 states, more than any year prior. 86 have passed, 365 are active, and 105 have failed.
- We experience anxiety, depression, and suicide as mental health sequelae associated with a lack of access to gender-affirming care.
- Black trans women and gender non-conforming folks on average earn 60 cents for every 1.00 earned by a white man. 34% of black transgender folks report a household income of less than 10,000 a year.
- Trans folks experience houselessness at a rate that is 8 times higher than the U.S average. 1 in 5 trans folks experience housing discrimination.
- Transgender men and women are 4 times more likely to experience sexual assault or 66% more likely to experience sexual assault when coupled with physical abuse or assault.
- 36% of transgender or gender-nonbinary students with restricted bathroom or locker room access reported being sexually assaulted according to a Harvard study.
Political attacks increase violence and drive rhetoric that creates misinformation and further leads to anti-trans violence.
We are doing everything we can to survive right now. And yet, through it all, we still find space to envision a world where we do not just survive, but we thrive. A world where we experience liberation.
Future State: Liberation and Thriving
We envisioned our liberation together, through:
- 13 Key informant interviews and 2 focus groups with a representative body of QTIPOC survivors (hereinafter referred to as The Experts).
- Landscape review of current survivor advocate training materials in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina
- Community organizing and performance art strategies from QTIPOC organizers and artists
- The Body Party Ball: A celebration of trans and gender non-conforming folks in ballroom culture
You will see throughout the Institute a radical hope for QTIPOC liberation. Let it light you up and set you in action.