Title: Recognizing the violence and other challenges faced by transgender women of color in America.
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues

Summary:
Encourages the development of policies that support transgender women of color and the transgender community.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 545 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 545

  Recognizing the violence and other challenges faced by transgender 
                       women of color in America.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 2017

    Mr. Ellison (for himself, Ms. Lee, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Pocan, Mr. 
    Kennedy, Mr. Takano, and Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
 on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and 
   the Workforce, Financial Services, and Energy and Commerce, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing the violence and other challenges faced by transgender 
                       women of color in America.

Whereas there is a long history of violence targeting transgender women of color 
        in America, and much of it goes unreported or is reported inaccurately;
Whereas 2016 was the deadliest year on record for transgender people in the 
        United States, with 21 murders of transgender women in 2016, almost all 
        of whom were transgender women of color, and there had been 18 as of 
        September 6, 2017, almost all of them, transgender women of color;
Whereas transgender women of color experience discrimination in educational 
        settings and are expelled from school at twice the rate of the 
        nontransgender population;
Whereas transgender women of color are more likely to experience violence, 
        including in prisons and immigration detention facilities;
Whereas discriminatory attitudes toward the transgender community foster high 
        rates of violence, homelessness, and economic instability;
Whereas transgender women of color who do not have access to safe education, 
        employment, and housing due to a lack of availability, targeted support 
        programs, training, or affordability are forced into unregulated 
        economies that place them in vulnerable situations;
Whereas African-American transgender women of color experience unemployment two 
        to three times higher than nontransgender African-American people in the 
        United States population according to a 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey 
        (``USTS'') of over 25,000 transgender people across the United States;
Whereas respondents to the USTS who were currently working in the underground 
        economy were three times more likely than nontransgender people to have 
        been expelled from school;
Whereas transgender women of color are substantially more likely to report being 
        homeless because of being transgender;
Whereas transgender women of color, including American Indian (59 percent), 
        African-American (51 percent), multiracial (51 percent), and Middle 
        Eastern (49 percent), experienced especially high rates of homelessness;
Whereas transgender women of color are more likely to receive unequal treatment 
        or service than White transgender people;
Whereas transgender women have repeatedly stated that when police officers knew 
        or thought they were transgender, the officers maliciously and 
        frequently referred to them as the wrong gender, verbally harassed them, 
        or physically attacked them;
Whereas transgender women of color, including American Indian (74 percent), 
        multiracial (71 percent), Latina (66 percent), and African-American (61 
        percent) respondents to the USTS were more likely to have experienced 
        one or more forms of mistreatment;
Whereas transgender women of color were more likely to report that an officer 
        assumed they were sex workers, including African-American (33 percent), 
        multiracial (30 percent), Latino (25 percent), American Indian (23 
        percent), and Asian (20 percent); and
Whereas transgender women of color, including African-American (9 percent) and 
        American Indian (6 percent) women, were more likely to have been 
        incarcerated in the past year (Figure 14.11 of the U.S. Transgender 
        Survey), than were respondents who had been homeless in the past year (7 
        percent): Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives encourages the 
development of policies that support transgender women of color and the 
transgender community, including--
            (1) developing a public education campaign to dispel myths 
        and to humanize transgender people;
            (2) ending the school-to-prison pipeline that occurs when 
        mistreatment, harassment, and physical violence are not 
        addressed, or due to the harsh disciplinary policies that 
        disproportionately effect transgender students;
            (3) developing antidiscriminatory employment practices and 
        promote policies for accepting and inclusive work environments;
            (4) ending aggressive police tactics that 
        disproportionately target transgender people, and educating law 
        enforcement about common antitransgender biases and practices 
        to ensure transgender people are safer when interacting with 
        law enforcement;
            (5) ensuring access to affordable education;
            (6) ensuring access to affordable housing;
            (7) ensuring access to inclusive, comprehensive health care 
        for transgender people;
            (8) developing affirming policies and procedures to 
        safeguard incarcerated transgender people from violence and 
        abuse in Federal, State, and local custody and immigration 
        detention;
            (9) ending the practice of placing transgender people in 
        solitary confinement;
            (10) ending the practice of immigration detention for 
        vulnerable populations, including transgender people;
            (11) developing policies and procedures to swiftly accept 
        transgender people seeking asylum in the United States; and
            (12) ending the law enforcement practice of racial 
        profiling.
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