Report on The Experiences of Black Respondents : 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey

S. James, C. Brown, I. Wilson

Abstract: The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS) is the largest survey examining the experiences of transgender people in the United States, with 27,715 respondents nationwide. The USTS was conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality in the summer of 2015, and the results provide a detailed look at the experiences of transgender people across a wide range of issues, such as education, employment, family life, health, housing, and interactions with the criminal justice system. The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey documented the experiences of USTS respondents, including differences based on demographic and other characteristics. Among the most important findings was that many respondents were impacted by the compounding effects of multiple forms of discrimination, and transgender people of color who completed the survey experienced deeper and broader forms of discrimination than white USTS respondents and people in the U.S. population overall. This report focuses on the unique experiences of the 796 USTS respondents who identified as Black or African American, highlighting disparities between the experiences of Black transgender people, other USTS respondents, and the U.S. population. While the findings in this report reflect a range of Black transgender people in the United States, the survey likely did not fully capture the experiences of those who were most affected by factors that may limit access to online surveys, such as factors related to education, economic and housing stability, and disabilities. All findings in this report are presented as weighted percentages.