Why Transgender People Need More Protection

People generally agree that humans should have equal rights. For many people, however, this seems to change on account of how they present themselves. People in the LGBT community are one of the smallest minority groups, a biet it is slowly growing, they are still discriminated against. Transgender is a term that means a person identifies with a gender that is different from what they were born as. This has been a center of hate and discrimination everywhere, including the workplace. Some believe that Transgender people do not need extra protection under the law, I believe that transgender people need more protection rights because of their high poverty rates, high unemployment rates, and how low the average annual earning is for a fourth of
These people claim that there are already laws against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, this is true but these laws are state laws and not on a federal level. They also tend to claim that this will limit free speech and religious beliefs, as people acting on their beliefs will no longer able to turn someone away because they identify as something they disagree with (Anderson). Contrary with this belief, there is wide protection for free speech and religion. Religious discrimination has been prohibited federally by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, meaning that anyone, regardless of religion, is able to be hired and it is illegal to be discriminated against. For transgender people, however, only 17 states and the District of Columbia, have laws specifically regarding transgender people and protecting them (O’Keefe ). There are 21 states and the District of Columbia that have laws that prohibit discrimination on account of sexual orientation (O’Keefe ). The lack of protection can mean that employers can simply reject a potential employee just because of their gender identity. An estimated amount by the WIlliams Institute in 2011, there are at