Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine)

Transgender breakthrough: people in the United States have a surprising understanding and acceptance of transgendered lives, a major new survey shows. (People).

Article Excerpt
Transgendered people have been featured in several network TV shows and have been the subject of an Academy Award-winning film. But just how deep is the average American's understanding of transgender issues?

Deeper than you might think, according to the results of a first-of-its-kind national survey released September 21 at the Southern Comfort transgender conference in Atlanta. In fact, seven out of 10 people included in the report, "Public Perceptions of Transgender People," say they are familiar with the word transgender. And a majority of respondents believe it is "all right" to be transgendered.

"This report is grounbreaking," says Mare Keisling, a transgender activist and marketing consultant in Harrisburg, Pa., who worked on the poll with the Washington, D.C.-based gay advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, which commissioned the study. "It is really the first, opportunity to hear from the public what they think of us and our struggle." While there have been two or three regional polls on the public's view of transgendered people, Keisling says she knows of no other survey of a national scope.

The paucity of polling data is actually what prompted HRC to commission the $70,000 survey, says spokesman David Smith. "Two years...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!