this post contains strong language and slurs.
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gender.
A person holding a phone, looking at a wall projected with various insults and slurs.
Canon EOS 7D
f/4.5
1/40sec.
ISO-6400
35mm w/ EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
transgender people are subject to constant verbal abuse, both online and in-person.
i created this collection of photos to emphasize how it feels to be bombarded with insults, slurs, and other various derogatory comments targeted towards queer individuals, particularly those who identify as transgender.
rarely are comments like this moderated effectively on social platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, where many young queer people spend a lot of time.
this causes an immense stress on queer people, which can, and does, significantly affect their mental health, on top of what we already go through.
in a US study, 58% of transgender individuals have been diagnosed with at least one mental health condition. 1
general forms of depression and anxiety were the most common conditions reported: 31% and 12% respectively, compared to a control population which reported 4.8% and 2% respectively.
10% of transgender people in this study were diagnosed with a substance use disorder
although we face abuse both online and in person, it's more prevalent online.
generally, people allow their inner opinions to flourish online; for better or for worse, and the negative ones tend to stick out more than the positive ones.
all of the comments projected on that wall were comments that i've either seen myself, or people close to me have. creating this shoot, unfortunately, was just a process of remembering what i, or the people close to me, have been called.
many people often do not realise the severity of their comments; but the vast majority completely disregard the fact that we are all human.
A person looking at a phone. A wall projected with various insults and slurs is behind them.
Canon EOS 7D
f/4.5
1/40sec.
ISO-6400
35mm w/ EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
40% of transgender individuals reported at least one historical suicide attempt. 2
with 82% of the group reporting having suicidal thoughts.
the control group reported 2-9% had attempted to take their life.
A person looking at a phone, with a melancholy expression. A wall projected with various insults and slurs targeted towards transgender people is behind them.
Canon EOS 7D
f/4.5
1/40sec.
ISO-6400
35mm w/ EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
"Unfortunately, these findings don't surprise me." 3 - Munroe Bergdorf
the most common insult & slur used towards trans people is tranny, with 1,204,243 mentions found out of 1.5 million total insults found.
A person looking at a phone, with a melancholy expression. A wall projected with various insults and slurs targeted towards transgender people is behind them
Canon EOS 7D
f/4.5
1/40sec.
ISO-6400
35mm w/ EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
if you are struggling, you are not alone.
sources
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Wanta, J. W., Niforatos, J. D., Durbak, E., Viguera, A., & Altinay, M. (2019). Mental Health Diagnoses Among Transgender Patients in
the Clinical Setting: An All-Payer Electronic Health Record Study. Transgender health, 4(1), 313-315.
link"Of 10,270 transgender patients identified, 58% (n=5940) had at least one psychiatric diagnosis" & Table 1 cited.
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Cramer, R. J., Kaniuka, A. R., Yada, F. N., Diaz-Garelli, F., Hill, R. M., Bowling, J., ... & Tucker, R. P. (2022). An analysis of
suicidal thoughts and behaviors among transgender and gender diverse adults. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 57(1),
195-205.
link -
Brandwatch and Ditch the Label. (2019). Transphobia report 2019.
link