There’s an Addiction Epidemic in the Trans Community
By: Elliot Geliebter
Tags: Addiction, Mental Health, Injustice, LGBTQ, Transgender

I’m a gender-fluid addict — and there’s a lot more of me. I first noticed just how many of us there are when COVID hit. Suddenly there were more online support groups than ever before. More importantly, there were more groups specifically for trans and gender-nonconforming people — honestly, so many more than I ever could even imagine.

All these trans-specific meetings got me started thinking. Are trans people at a higher risk for addiction? Statistics would say so.

“Although data on the rates of substance abuse in gay and transgender populations are sparse, it is estimated that between 20 percent to 30 percent of gay and transgender people abuse substances, compared to about 9 percent of the general population.” — Jerome Hunt

That’s almost triple the rate for cishet people. Minority stress could be a significant factor for LGBTQ+ reaching our breaking point and using drugs. Social pressures for transgender people, such as people deadnaming us regularly and never using the correct pronouns, can be a considerable stressor too.

In a study by Tara Lyons, et al., A qualitative study of transgender individuals’ experiences in residential addiction treatment settings: stigma and inclusivity, it states

“Fourteen participants had previous experience of addiction treatment and their experiences varied according to whether their gender identity was accepted in the treatment programs. Three themes emerged from the data that characterized individuals’ experiences in treatment settings: (1) enacted stigma in the forms of social rejection and violence, (2) transphobia and felt stigma, and (3) “trans friendly” and inclusive treatment. Participants who reported felt and enacted stigma, including violence, left treatment prematurely after isolation and conflicts. In contrast, participants who felt included and respected in treatment settings reported positive treatment experiences.”

In my rehab experience, I received zero respect. No one asked me my pronouns; they all assumed I was a girl. I went to an eating disorder wing of the rehab, and when I tried to explain to them I didn’t have body dysmorphia, I had body dysphoria, I received strange looks. I had actually to explain to them what dysphoria was. I’ve been to nine mental hospitals and rehabs, and only one of them gave a damn about my gender identity and pronouns.

So why does no one care about transgender drug addicts? I think there’s a simple yet incredibly sad answer to that question. Society doesn’t care about the transgender community, and it also doesn’t care about drug addicts. So a transgender drug addict? Forget it. Society has already turned their head the other way.

With the higher rates of addiction in the trans community, we need to be doing more outreach in those communities. A great example of this would be the Morris Home, in Philadelphia, which provides trans-affirming care for transgender addicts.

Why are there not more places like the Morris Home? Why did I only find out about it after I went to rehab? Probably, because none of my social workers and any of the nine hospitals and rehabs, I went to were competent in transgender-affirming care.

Mental healthcare fails us at every turn, so it’s no surprise that the addiction rehabilitation industry would fail us too.

There is a real and genuine epidemic out there for transgender people who are addicted today.

Society needs to stop ignoring trans people when they say they are hurting. It might save someone’s life. We can begin by using a trans person’s preferred name and proper pronouns — both of which have been proven to prevent suicide (especially in trans youth).

As far as addiction, I believe that it all begins with harm reduction. Who do you think is more at risk of being picked up by the police — a cis addict, or a transgender addict? Having a safe place for those addicts to go is crucial. At the very least, if you feel moved by this piece, help out with your local harm reduction coalition. They might do things such as hand out clean needles on the streets, or maybe even hand out free Narcan — a life-saving drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

By giving trans people the love and respect they deserve before their addiction develops, we may be able to stop an epidemic entirely. And if we can’t, we can at least use harm reduction methods to make sure that those trans addicts are as safe and well taken care of as possible.