Transgender issues were catapulted to the forefront and this diverse community unified thanks to the second annual Transgender Day of Empowerment, held at The Center on Saturday.

Sponsored by The Center and Family Health Centers of San Diego, the Day of Empowerment aims to increase support and respect, and revitalize the transgender network and their allies.

Rousing speeches were given at Saturday’s event by Valerie Spencer, a transgender empowerment activist, and Chris Daley, a non-transgender, gay lawyer from the Transgender Law Center, who applauded individuals for their courage under great adversity.

Transgender is an umbrella term for individuals as diverse as pre-operative, post-operative and non-operative transsexuals, cross-dressers, drag queens and kings, and intersex people.

Issues of the gay, lesbian and bisexual community often overshadow those of the transgender community, despite their battle against discrimination. It wasn’t until 2003 that they were facilitated for and recognized under the LGBT acronym.

Some of the most pressing issues facing the transgender community include high unemployment due to discriminatory laws; lack of healthcare through discriminatory insurance companies or insensitive healthcare providers who are uneducated to their needs; high poverty levels; widespread depression and other mental health challenges; and an increased risk of HIV/AIDS infection.

However, positive strides are being made between The Center and the Transgender Community Coalition, which was assembled in 2000.

Pending legislation in the state Assembly, AB 1586, will add transgender protections to existing antidiscrimination provisions and clarify a state law prohibiting health insurance companies from gender-based prejudice.

Jennifer Miller, co-chair of the Transgender Community Coalition and founder of the Transgender Health Project, said there is a “major problem” with medical insurance for transgender individuals. “The minute the word ‘transsexual’ comes up, your benefits are cut off,” she said. “One of the other difficulties we have [is] when we present ourselves at the doctor’s office. It requires a tremendous amount of education with the person at the front desk, from the initial phone call to any follow-up work.”

Insurance companies’ refusal to cover transsexuals’ necessary hormone treatments are pushing some into prostitution to pay for private treatment, and to reuse or share treatment needles, all of which exposes them to greater susceptibility of HIV/AIDS infection, she said.

A transgender healthcare needs-assessment, commissioned by the California Endowment and completed last year, prompted The Center and the Transgender Community Coalition to focus on increasing access to and availability of GLBT-friendly healthcare facilities.

Different surveys show transgender unemployment levels to be between 50 and 70 percent. Coupled with the crippling costs of surgeries and hormone therapies for those that choose them, large numbers of transgender people live below the poverty line – $9,570 a year, according to the U.S. Health and Human Services’ 2005 guidelines.

Unemployment is not only because of transphobic employers. “When we transition into being women, we lose our work history,” Miller explained. “Who you were for 30 years, as in my case, is no longer accessible; I can’t access 30 years of work experience under another name. That’s very difficult to explain to an employer.”

Male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals travel a particularly difficult path as estrogen has a less dramatic affect on the male body than testosterone on the female, according to Miller. Female-to-male (FTM) transsexuals tend to integrate into society quicker, she said.

If these women stand out more in society, their risk of abuse skyrockets, as found in the Anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Violence 2000 annual report, which documented incidences of violence towards MTF transsexuals at 98 percent of the total cases. Violence against FTM transsexuals was 2 percent.

The same report found anti-transgender violence accounted for 20 percent of all anti-GLBT murders, although the FBI’s hate crimes statistics don’t include transgender people. Sexual orientation and religious bias fueled the second highest rates of hate crimes, after race.

Transphobia has dramatic affects, with high rates of depression and suicide, Miller said. “Recognizing who you are, who you want to be, and not being able to obtain that goal is very frustrating and turns to a lot of self-hatred and anger.”

She added, “Family is perhaps the most difficult cost involved in your transition process; losing [that] is very stressful, very painful. My relationship with my wife and son have been severed, which is a common theme for transsexuals.”

Unlike the gay, lesbian and bisexual community, which has made drastic headway in gaining greater acceptance over the last few decades, transgender people often feel excluded even within the GLBT community, Miller said. But, she added, as with the gay community, it is a matter of time and education.

“I believe if you take the TCC and continually inform a good, positive group at support level, if you educate and empower that group from within, they can go out and have other people believe in them, too,” she said. “But until the government and individuals see us as normal individuals, it’s going to be a long process.

“We’ve gained a notch in the gay community – we’re no longer the weirdoes,” she continued. “We’re starting to be recognized and appreciated for who we are. Our feelings may have been masked by the opposite gender that we are, but we just want to be ourselves, as women or men in the world.”

Empowerment awards were presented Saturday to Travis Curley, Cassandra Marie Stahl and Sandra Ramirez. Community service awards went to Dr. Kurt Buis of The Center, Dr. Davey Smith for Tuesday Night Clinic and the Imperial Court de San Diego. Appreciation awards were given to the California Endowment, Alberto Cortez and Bob Lewis of Family Health Centers.

The Transgender Community Coalition meets at The Center on the third Tuesday of every month at 7:00 p.m.