Asian American and Pacific Islander Trans/Nonbinary People

Overview

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) covers a broad spectrum of identities and experiences, and includes a large number of cultural, national, and ethnic identities. Some people will have been in the United States for many generations, and some may be immigrants or be first or second generation in the United States (a fact that is true for most ethnicities). AAPI transgender survivors face racism and stereotypes, health disparities, and discrimination that may intersect with their transgender identity.

Different cultural groups have their own relationships and histories of trans and nonbinary genders. Learn more about some examples of trans and nonbinary genders here: Gender Expression in East Asian Cultures

Some AAPI survivors may express identities or gender presentations that align with traditional gender expressions in their cultures. Due to colonization, others have had these histories hidden from them and have not been allowed to explore or express their gender in these ways.

Learn more:

• Importing Western Gender Codes: How South Asia’s Trans Communities Are Still Experiencing the Effects of British Colonial Rule)
• Trans and Gender Diverse Activism in Relation to Anti-Gender Opposition: A Southeast Asia Perspective

Tip: Listen to and learn from survivors. Each person may have their own relationship to historical or current identity terms. Follow their lead when referring to them.

An analysis of the 2015 US Trans Survey found, “… income, age, disability, gender identity, and family support are significantly associated with violence and discrimination. As TGD [trans and gender diverse] Asian Americans currently experience high levels of violence and discrimination due to transphobia and a rapidly rising anti-Asian bias stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to better understand factors that may increase vulnerability and identify how family support can mitigate those experiences are imperative.”[1]

For an overview of LGBTQ+ AAPI experiences, check out this resource:

A fact sheet from the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence summarizing research on AAPI LGBTQ+ people’s experiences of gender-based violence.

Experiences of violence

Many trans and nonbinary people experience violence over the course of their lifetime. For AAPI transgender people, risks of violence may be higher in some areas than among the general transgender population. While this data does not capture the full complexity of AAPI transgender people’s experiences with violence, here is a brief overview:

Verbal harassment: In a study published by the API Equality Northern California (APIENC), “68% of respondents reported experiencing verbal harassment in the past year, as compared to 46% of trans people nationally”.[2]

Harassment in the bathroom: “While only 12% of the national trans population reported experiencing bathroom-based harassment, over 40% of API respondents reported experiencing this form of discrimination”.[3]

Intimate partner violence: 52% of transgender Asian Americans “experienced abuse or violence from a romantic or sexual partner”.[4]

Workplace violence: “49% of API transgender and gender non-conforming respondents were harassed, 8% were physically assaulted, and 10% were sexually assaulted at work”.[5]

Violence at school: “Many AAPI students experienced harassment or assault at school based on personal characteristics, including sexual orientation (60.5%), gender expression (54.7%), and race/ethnicity (53.8%)”.[6]

While anti-trans hate impacts everyone, it is important to recognize the unique experiences with violence that AAPI trans and nonbinary people may have. Researchers from the APIENC write about their study:

“The findings in this report result from centuries of xenophobia, colonization, war, and attempts to erase transgender people from Pacific Islander and Asian histories. Decades of the Model Minority Myth have justified violence against Black and indigenous people and made the challenges APIs face imperceptible to the world around us.”[7]

Barriers to services

Discrimination

AAPI trans and nonbinary people experience discrimination in many areas of life, including:

Housing: “21% of API transgender and gender non-conforming people reported having been refused a home or apartment due to bias.”[8]

Mistreatment by law enforcement: In a study published by the API Equality Northern California (APIENC), “the vast majority of participants (79%) said they were uncomfortable interacting with the police, and 63% reported only sometimes being treated with respect by law enforcement”.[9]

Employment: “API transgender and gender non-conforming people experience unemployment at a higher rate (12% vs. 7%) than the general US population”.[10]

AAPI trans/nonbinary survivors face multiple forms of discrimination and oppression — some forms targeting their gender, some forms   targeting their race/ethnicity, often both at the same time. Negative experiences with service providers, such as those with law enforcement described above, can keep people from accessing other services. This effect is seen even when an individual was not harassed but has heard about harassment towards others in their communities.

Immigration status

According to a national study, “more than one in ten (13.6%) undocumented LGBT adults are Asian or Pacific Islander— similar to the proportion of all Asian or Pacific Islander (14.0%) out of all undocumented adults in the US.”[11]

AAPI trans adults who are undocumented may have additional concerns about seeking care after experiencing a crime, including fear of being detained or deported, or not having necessary identity documents for certain services.

Cost

The cost of services can be a substantial barrier to seeking support. Even services that are free – such as domestic and sexual violence programs – may have hidden costs, such as taking time off from work to access them or transportation costs. Other programs, like mental and physical health services, often have fees. Due to racism and anti-trans discrimination, AAPI trans and nonbinary people may be unemployed, have lower paid jobs, or work in industries that do not provide health insurance.

Cultural inaccessibility

Even when services are financially accessible, they may not be culturally accessible. This barrier may be more subtle than outright discrimination.  Culturally inaccessible services are those that do not respect or respond to the unique cultural needs of an individual.

This may look like a service that requires people to be a particular religion or services that do not recognize the healing practices of another culture. For example, some communities find healing and wellness through touch and physical connection such as massage. However, mainstream US mental health care typically looks down upon providers touching patients. Another example is the expectation that people express emotions in a certain way. Many cultures have different norms around processing and expression of emotions, and one way is not “better” than another.

Intersectionality

AAPI trans and nonbinary people may experience violence and crime at the intersection of gender and racial or cultural identities. Additionally, people who have other marginalized identities may face additional forms of violence.

According to a local needs assessment surveying transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming AAPIs living in the Bay Area of California:

• “Disabled respondents were more likely to experience SA (77%) and DV (57%) compared to their non-disabled peers.
• Respondents who experienced homelessness in their lifetime were also more likely to experience sexual violence (76%) and domestic violence (76.7%) compared to participants who never experienced homelessness.”[12]

Providers must understand how these intersections of identity may impact an individual’s experience of violence and the kinds of care they may need.

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