Do You Count?

Have you taken U.S. Trans Survey?

Why The New National Transgender Survey Will Be Revolutionary
ThinkProgress
By Zack Ford
August 19, 2015

August 19 marks the launch of the new U.S. Trans Survey, developed and supported by a coalition of LGBT groups and researchers, and over the next month, thousands of transgender people will complete the module, documenting their experiences in employment, housing, health care, and the criminal justice system. This will provide one of the most extensive glimpses into what it’s like to be transgender in the United States.

When we passed the non-discrimination law here in Connecticut we used the data from the 2009 survey to help convince legislators of the need for legislation.

…The data from the NTDS has been cited countless times (Keisling estimates over 15,000 times in the media), particularly its findings about the rates of trans suicide attempts, homelessness, employment discrimination, and health care discrimination. It also provided some of the first insights about the rates at which transgender people have surgery as part of their transition.

And this survey will collect even better data,

But the new survey isn’t just bigger, it’s also qualitatively better. Sandy James, NCTE’s Survey Project Manager, told ThinkProgress that many of the questions have been improved. Thanks to updated technology over what was used for the NTDS, the U.S. Trans Survey uses a skip-logic model will make sure that respondents are asked follow-up questions that reflect their experiences. More importantly, the questions have been tailored so that the results can be easily juxtaposed against other national studies. For example, questions about income will align with questions from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey so that the information about trans people can be compared with national averages. Similar validated scales were added for physical and mental health measures.

It is important for us to be counted because many services are based on community needs and many times when we try to pass non-discrimination laws the legislators ask about the community.

As such, the goal of the survey is compensate for the invisibility of transgender people in other research. Jody Herman, who serves as Williams Institute Scholar of Public Policy and is also working on the survey, explained to ThinkProgress, “One of the most challenging parts about studying the trans community as a whole is that nearly all the key U.S. surveys that we use to learn about the U.S. population, like the Census, do not identify trans people. Both large and small scale studies are needed to fill vast knowledge gaps about the trans population in the U.S. The USTS is one of those large-scale efforts.”

For example if you answer that you have been to a homeless shelter, the survey then asks you questions about your experience at the shelter. I think I skewed the results because they asked if you had visited any DV shelter, police, social services agencies, homeless shelters, and etc. in the last twelve months and I have, but it was because I have done cultural competency training at all of them.

The first day of the survey was slower than molasses but they are trying to fix the problem,

In its first day open, the survey is already struggling to accommodate how many people are trying to take it. An update on the page notes, “Our servers are doing their best to keep up with the demand and we thank you for your patience. If you have trouble taking the survey now, know that it will be available to take through at least September 21st.” Results will likely be available sometime in early to mid 2016.

A drawback is who is taking the survey, there really is no control over the participants.

Some opponents of transgender equality have been critical of the survey’s methods. Elizabeth Hungerford, a radical feminist who advocates against protections for transgender people, has promised to try to sabotage the data, calling the internet survey “a direct result of the mindlessness of identity politics.” Despite not being trans, she pledged to take the survey and encouraged others to do the same. Apparently, asking transgender people exactly what they experience is “not how you INFORM public policy or UNDERSTAND trans people.”

I also have some concerns about the survey and my biggest concern is the way the survey is being advertised, on the internet. The people that need assistance the most have limited access to the internet and computers. I have been trying to think up ways to get the information about the surveys to those who line on the street. Any ideas?