Washington,

D.C. Report

T
he 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS) is the largest survey examining the experiences of
transgender people in the United States, with 27,715 respondents nationwide. The USTS was
conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality in the summer of 2015. Of respondents
in the USTS, 214 were Washington, D.C. residents.1 This report discusses the experiences of respondents
living in Washington, D.C.

Income and Employment Status

10% of respondents in Washington, D.C. were unemployed.2
16% were living in poverty.3

Employment and the Workplace

26% of respondents who have ever been employed reported losing a job in their lifetime because of
their gender identity or expression.
In the past year, 25% of those who held or applied for a job during that year reported being fired, being
denied a promotion, or not being hired for a job they applied for because of their gender identity or
expression.
10% of respondents who had a job in the past year reported being verbally harassed at work because of
their gender identity or expression.

2015 U.S. TRANSGENDER SURVEY | WASHINGTON, D.C. REPORT

27% of those who had a job in the past year reported other forms of mistreatment based on their gender
identity or expression during that year, such as being forced to use a restroom that did not match their
gender identity, being told to present in the wrong gender in order to keep their job, or having a boss or
coworker share private information about their transgender status with others without their permission.

Education
88% of those who were out or perceived as transgender at some point between Kindergarten and
Grade 12 (K12) experienced some form of mistreatment, such as being verbally harassed, prohibited
from dressing according to their gender identity, disciplined more harshly, or physically or sexually
assaulted because people thought they were transgender.
bb 67% of those who were out or perceived as transgender in K12 were verbally harassed, 30% were
physically attacked, and 18% were sexually assaulted in K12 because of being transgender.
bb 23% faced such severe mistreatment as a transgender person that they left a K12 school.
26% of respondents who were out or perceived as transgender in college or vocational school were
verbally, physically, or sexually harassed because of being transgender.

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 Housing and Homelessness
24% of respondents experienced some form of housing discrimination in the past year, such as being
evicted from their home or denied a home or apartment because of being transgender.
21% have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives.
11% experienced homelessness in the past year because of being transgender.

Public Accommodations
Respondents reported being denied equal treatment or service, verbally harassed, or physically
attacked at many places of public accommodationplaces that provide services to the public, like retail
stores, hotels, and government offices.
Of respondents who visited a place of public accommodation where staff or employees thought or
knew they were transgender, 41% experienced at least one type of mistreatment in the past year. This
included 24% who were denied equal treatment or service, 27% who were verbally harassed, and 3%
who were physically attacked because of being transgender.

Restrooms
8% of respondents reported that someone denied them access to a restroom in the past year.
In the past year, respondents reported being verbally harassed (10%) and physically attacked (1%) when
accessing a restroom.
58% of respondents avoided using a public restroom in the past year because they were afraid of
confrontations or other problems they might experience.
25% of respondents limited the amount that they ate or drank to avoid using the restroom in the past
year.
2015 U.S. TRANSGENDER SURVEY | WASHINGTON, D.C. REPORT

Police Interactions
Respondents experienced high levels of mistreatment and harassment by police. In the past year, of
respondents who interacted with police or other law enforcement officers who thought or knew they
were transgender, 44% experienced some form of mistreatment. This included being verbally harassed,
repeatedly referred to as the wrong gender, physically assaulted, or sexually assaulted, including being
forced by officers to engage in sexual activity to avoid arrest.
63% of respondents said they would feel uncomfortable asking the police for help if they needed it.

Health
35% of respondents experienced a problem in the past year with their insurance related to being
transgender, such as being denied coverage for care related to gender transition or being denied
coverage for routine care because they were transgender.

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 43% of those who saw a health care provider in the past year reported having at least one negative
experience related to being transgender. This included being refused treatment, verbally harassed, or
physically or sexually assaulted, or having to teach the provider about transgender people in order to
get appropriate care.
In the past year, 24% of respondents did not see a doctor when they needed to because of fear of being
mistreated as a transgender person, and 32% did not see a doctor when needed because they could
not afford it.
37% of respondents experienced serious psychological distress in the month before completing the
survey (based on the Kessler 6 Psychological Distress Scale).4
11% of respondents reported that a professional, such as a psychologist, counselor, or religious advisor,
tried to stop them from being transgender.

Identity Documents
Only 16% of respondents reported that all of their IDs had the name and gender they preferred, while
49% reported that none of their IDs had the name and gender they preferred.
The cost of changing IDs was one of the barriers respondents faced, with 14% of those who have not
changed their legal name and 17% of those who have not updated the gender on their IDs reporting that
it was because they could not afford it.
43% of respondents who have shown an ID with a name or gender that did not match their gender
presentation were verbally harassed, denied benefits or service, asked to leave, or assaulted.

2015 U.S. TRANSGENDER SURVEY | WASHINGTON, D.C. REPORT

ENDNOTES | WASHINGTON, D.C. REPORT

1. The number of respondents in Washington, D.C. (n=214) is an unweighted value. All reported percentages are weighted. For
more information on the weighting procedures used to report 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey data, see the full survey report,
available at www.USTransSurvey.org.

2. For reference, the U.S. unemployment rate was 5% at the time of the survey, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. See
the full report for more information about this calculation.

3. For reference, the U.S. poverty rate was 12% at the time of the survey. The research team calculated the USTS poverty measure
using the official poverty measure, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. USTS respondents were designated as living in
poverty if their total family income fell under 125% of the official U.S. poverty line. See the full report for more information about
this calculation.

4. For reference, 5% of the U.S. population reported experiencing serious psychological distress during the prior month as reported
in the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. See the full report for more information about this calculation.

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2015 U.S. Transgender Survey
Washington, D.C. Report
October 2017

The full report and Executive Summary of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey are available at
www.USTransSurvey.org.

2017 The National Center for Transgender Equality. We encourage and grant permission for the
reproduction and distribution of this publication in whole or in part, provided that it is done so with
attribution to the National Center for Transgender Equality. Further written permission is not required.

Recommended Citation: 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey: Washington, D.C. Report. (2017).
Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality.

USTransSurvey.org | TransEquality.org