fra-2014-being-trans-eu-comparative_en

Daily life as a trans personAlmost a quarter of the queer/other, and one out ofthree male cross dressers and gender variant respondentsstate that their partner is not aware of it (Table 18).Examining respondents’ social networks more generally,the awareness of respondents’ trans identity ismuch lower than the percentage of partner(s) whoare aware of it. Over half of the respondents (54 %)indicate that none or only a few family members areaware of their trans identity. Almost half (46 %) of alltrans respondents say that none or only a few of theirfriends are aware of it. Awareness among neighbours,work colleagues and schoolmates is even lower. Four infive (81 %) trans respondents indicate that none or onlya few neighbours are aware of their trans identity, whileseven out of 10 (71 %) say that their work colleagues/schoolmates are not aware of it. Female and male crossdressers and gender variant respondents indicate thehighest levels of non‐awareness in their social circles,whereas trans women and trans men indicate the highestlevels of awareness (Table 19).3.4.2. Openness about being trans“Life being Transgendered is scary, I am always on thelookout for negative reactions, and feel the need for“Stealth” when in most public situations such as using Publictransport etc, this involves wearing heavier and baggierclothes than I would prefer to.”(Transsexual, 39, United Kingdom)The survey asked respondents about the degree to whichthey themselves are open about being trans in their varioussocial circles, such as with family members, friends,neighbours, colleagues at work, schoolmates, immediatesuperiors or heads of departments, customers/clients atwork, and medical staff/healthcare providers. There arenotable differences between the different types of identitygroups: whereas trans women and trans men are themost likely to be open to all in their social circles, gendervariant respondents are the least likely to be. For eachand every social category, more than half of the respondentsin the queer and other identity group indicate thatthese questions about being open to others about theirgender identity do not apply to them.In general, when awareness by others and opennesstoward others are compared, it appears that transrespondents are known by more people in their socialenvironment as being a trans person than they themselvesare open to. This difference is most clear for familymembers.“I’m sure that I would have suffered more discriminationand harassment if I had been open about being trans.When I had to mention this in legal contexts, I did so, butbesides my family, healthcare personnel and ex‐partners,no one knows that I wasn’t born male. So it was relativelyeasy for me, but that I need to keep this strictly a secret tohave it easy is of course a bad situation.” (Trans man, 38,Netherlands)Table 18: Partner’s awareness of respondents’ trans identity or backgroundEU trans averageTrans womenTrans menFemale cross dressersMale cross dressersTransgenderGender variantQueer/otherYes 85 93 97 91 70 94 69 77No 15 7 3 9 30 6 31 23Question: G1_A. Does your current partner know that you are transgender?Base: Trans respondents in the EU LGBT survey.Source: FRA, EU LGBT survey, 201287