Who We Are
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The Problem
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What We're Doing
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We're a group of high school sophomores advocating for trans rights. We began this project in May 2017, in order to bring awareness to the trans community. Even though we are a small group of three, we hope we can make a difference locally. We aspire to bring minorities together so that we can learn about each other, in order to coexist. TRANSform Our Media supports individuality, non-binary genders, people of different ethnicities and nationalities and people with different sexualities. Let's TRANSform the media together!
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According to the New York TImes, 1 in 137 teenagers identify as transgender, and there are over 1.4 million trans adults in the USA. Representation for minorities matters, especially a group that has been documented to have such a high suicide rate, due to lack of self-esteem and local support. The Williams Institute has reported that around 40% of both trans men and women have attempted suicide in their lives, and the most surprising thing is that the statistics continue through every demographic and background. Trans people clearly aren’t getting the support they need in order to understand that their identity is valid and can be supported.
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According to the Washington Post, trans youth face discrimination in employment, housing agencies, medical providers and in the military. In fact, transgender youth are four times more likely to have an income of less than $10,000 per year. Even as adults, 64% of transgender people make less than $25,000 per year. Additionally, transgender youth are two times more likely to be unemployed.
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Transgender people have been ostracized from society for too long. There are harmful stereotypes surrounding them, as well as discrimination in their household, in employment, in housing agencies, in the military, etc.
Although media representation will not solve the problem, it would de-stigmatize transgender people, raise awareness about non-binary genders as well as make transgender people globally feel represented and included.
We are reaching out to Forever 21 to include transgender models, because we believe that a company as influential as Forever 21 should involve trans models in order to appeal to the general public. This will spread awareness and will give media attention to trans people. You can get involved by signing our petition below! We are also reaching out to people in power to make a change in society.
We have to TRANSform the media for a better future, and to do that we need every bit of help we can get.
