Running head: VIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST TRANS 1

Violence and Discrimination Against Trans

Morgan Litrenta

COMM 3328

Texas State University

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Institutions are very influential. They are frequently used to both instigate violence and

discrimination against transgendered people. Institutions help create, manage, and reinforce

intersectionality. DeFrancisco (2014) mentions Martin’s 12 characteristics of social institutions

which state that, “[the institution] must be social, persist across time and space, have distinct

social practices that are repeated, constrain and facilitate behavior, designate social positions

characterized by expectations and norms, constituted by people, are internalized as part of

people’s identities, have legitimate ideology, are contradictory, continually change, are organized

and permeated by power, and are not separable into micro and macro phenomena (p. 131-132).

These are just general characteristics that all institutions have. DeFrancisco (2014) emphasizes

that institutions are much bigger than just organizations, an important part in society, depend on

one another, make a universal truth, and to believe in contradictory norms and values (p. 132).

The major social institutions are family, work, media, religion, and education. In this paper,

institutional discrimination and violence, a specific instance of the violence and discrimination

from Saffin (2011), and how institutional discrimination and violence is communicated in

education will be discussed.

Beginning with defining exactly what institutional violence and discriminations is,

institutional discrimination is the unfair treatment of individual(s) by social institutions, whereas

institutional violence takes it a little further and becomes a physical act. DeFrancisco (2014)

says, “Institutionalized discrimination is maintained through complex sets of social institutions

that interact with structure, and influence individual beliefs and prejudices” (p. 133) and are “the

most powerful engines that drive and sustain racism, sexism, and hetero-ism are embedded in a

society’s institutions” (p. 133). It is important to remember that prejudice and institutionalized

discrimination and violence are interconnected, but very different; prejudices are simply a cause

of the institutional discrimination, instead of vise-versa. DeFrancisco (2014) says, “institutional

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violence occurs when overt and subtle forms of violence become normalized as a result of

institutional rules and norms” (p. 135).

Next, a closer look upon Saffin’s (2011) article, Identities Under Siege in which she talks

specifically about intersectionality surrounding trans individual of color. Trans individuals not

only have their identity of being trans, many of them identify with other disadvantages in life,

such as low-income individuals, people of color, and many more identities that play into

privilege and power. A specific instance in which trans individuals are more discriminated

against are when a transgendered persons meet at the intersectionality of education. Saffin (2011)

writes about many numerous instances in which trans individuals are discriminated or have had

extreme violence committed against them. Taking a more focused look on transgendered people

who are discriminated against, because of their education. Saffin (2011) writes a whole category

of writing named “Economic Inequality;” in this section, Saffin (2011) talks all about the way

education and work mixes with being transgendered. According to Saffin (2011):

Similarly, harassment and violence against transpersons is rampant in schools, and many

drop out or are kicked out before finishing. This leads to less opportunity in a job market

that already severely discriminates against transpersons.45 Many transgender persons are

fearful of applying to jobs because paperwork or other documents might reveal their old

name or birth sex. They also might be fired for transitioning on the job or when a

transperson’s gender identity comes to the attention of a supervisor.46 (p. 150-141)

This quote is one of the most significant ones, and each part conveys an important message.

Transgendered persons are not only choosing to quit their education; they are being forced to

leave by the school. Intersectionality argues that everything is interconnected and related in

terms of power. Therefore, due to the lack of education, transgendered persons are left to no
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other choice, but to result to sex work. This is just one of the few instances in which Saffin

(2011) writes about all of the ways transgendered people are discriminated against.

A major institution that is used to discriminate and perpetuate violence against trans-

individuals is education. According to James (2016). 24% of transgendered people “…were

verbally, physically, or sexually harassed” (p. 136). This shows how transgendered people are

harassed in a school setting; a place of education should be a safe place for anyone, no matter

what reason. There is also a high dropout rate, most likely resulting from the statistics stated

before. In fact, James (2016) reports that, “Of those who experienced some form of harassment,

transgender women (21%) were more likely to have left college or vocational school for this

reason than transgender men (16%) and non-binary people (12%)” (p. 136). This is an example

of intersectionality, because trans women are more likely to drop-out than trans men. Overall,

there are many instances in which education as an institution discriminates against transgendered

individuals.

In conclusion, institutions play an important part in society. Discrimination and violence

against trans people is a problem in society, Saffin’s (2011) writing Identities Under Seige:

Violence Against Transpersons of Color is examined, and statistics for discrimination against

trans people is provided.

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REFERENCES

DeFrancisco, V. L., Palczewski, C. H., & McGeough, D. D. (2014). Gender in communication: A

critical introduction (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Rankin S., Keisling, M., Mottet, L., & Anafi, M. (2016). The Report

of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender

Equality.

Saffin, L. A. (2011). Identities under siege: Violence against transpersons of color. In Stanley, E.

A., Smith N. (Eds.), Captive genders: trans embodiment and the prison industrial

complex (p. 141-162). Oakland, CA: AK Press.