The continuing struggle for transgender rights and protections

After a record-setting 29 deaths in 2017, killings of transgender Americans were at high levels again in 2018. Among those most vulnerable were transgender persons of color.

MPR News' Marianne Combs, sitting in for Kerri Miller, spoke with Charlotte Clymer, Army veteran, transgender activist and press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC); and with Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins. They discussed the continuing struggle for transgender rights and protections.

Clymer said transgender youth must be included in the conversation about transgender rights and protections:

"LGBTQ youth face higher rates of homelessness. They face higher rates of discrimination in schools, acts of violence, and certainly abuse within their own homes. There is still this broad stigmatization that we have not yet addressed. We have a lot of work to do to ensuring that every child, regardless of who they are, feels safe, not only in their schools but also in their wider communities."

Andrea Jenkins added that "70 percent of transgender youth, who have the support of their families, don't have those issues around homelessness, and employment, and being able to access schools, [unlike] a lot folks that don't have that kind of family support."

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.