WHAT?

According to The Williams Institute, .6 percent of U.S. adults identify as transgender. If we apply this statistic to Hickory Hills Middle School students, that would equate to 3 students in our population of 500. It's not surprising, therefore, that over the past three years, I have worked with 6 self-identified transgender students at our school.

SO WHAT?

The National Transgender Discrimination Survey tells us that 78% of k-12 gender non-conforming students report harassment at school; 35% report physical assault; and 12% report sexual violence. More alarmingly, 41% of the respondents said that they had attempted suicide--a percentage that is more than 25 times higher than that of the general population! Finally, and most tragically, transgender adults are at a much greater risk for being the victims of violent homicide than the rest of the population. So far in 2017 there have been 25 cases identified. You can read more about it here.

NOW WHAT?

Being a part of the solution means educating the Hickory Hills community on transgender issues. Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Let's use this opportunity to learn more about this beautifully diverse yet extremely vulnerable, misunderstood, and under-resourced part of our student body. One easy way to do this is to share the info-graphic below!

Let me know if you'd like ideas or assistance in sharing this information with your students!