Transphobia and Gender Identity Discrimination

“People make fun of pronouns [and] gender expression.”

“[There is] intentional misgendering by students.”

“People make fun of trans and gay people all the time.”

Again representing a larger sample of East experiences shared with Eastside, these concerns about transphobia align with data on the subject. The statistics are similar, though slightly worse, than those for homophobia at East. Among all students, 42.1 percent feel there is a transphobic environment at East. LGBTQ+ students report there being a transphobic environment at a rate of 68.5 percent.

Students shared concerns about supposed “jokes” that were intentionally harmful. Some also shared that their peers lacked understanding of their experiences.

One student wrote that what it means to be transgender or nonbinary “needs to be talked about more” as some students lack knowledge on the topic, which can contribute to discrimination.
As a result of this discrimination, some students said East is not a safe space for them to be themselves.

“It is not like I can ignore my own identity for so long, [because] this is also a part of me,” said Lyann Mejia (‘23), who uses she/they pronouns.