Scene Four: Thursday, July 12 2007:
Including and Engaging People who are Transgender and Bisexual in the Workplace

Transgender Statistics

What are the actual numbers of transgender people living in the U.S? The statistics are difficult to pinpoint exactly, partly because not everyone comes out and partly because transgender is an umbrella term for many types of people.

Statistics are available on the number of transsexuals living in the U.S. only because the number of sex-reassignment surgeries can be tracked. Many authorities quote the number of transsexuals being 1:30,000 for male-to-female transsexuals, and 1:100,000 for female-to-male transsexuals. These numbers come from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), an authority for psychiatrists and psychologists.

However, those numbers may be significantly smaller than the actual numbers. By calculating the numbers of surgeries done in the U.S., other experts estimate that transsexuals account for 1:2,500, at least for male-to-female. Female-to-male transsexuals are roughly the same number as male-to-female.

Jillian Weiss, co-presenter for Scene Four, notes that studies of openly transgender people in U.S. corporations suggest that there are currently about 2 per 1000 in the corporate environment, and this will likely get larger as the U.S. environment becomes more accepting.

Sources:

Conway, Lynn. "How frequently does transsexualism occur?" January 30, 2001. http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/TSprevalence.html

Jillian Weiss, Ph.D., J.D. Principal Consultant, Jillian T. Weiss & Associates, and Assistant Professor of Law and Society, Ramapo College of New Jersey

Scene Four was the fourth session of the 2007 NW Diversity Learning Series, Life Theater - Inclusion and Engagement: Challenging and Expanding My Diversity Competency: Moving Beyond My Comfort Zone. The Series, held in Seattle, WA, is organized by The GilDeane Group, publishers of DiversityCentral.com.

Presenters were Jillian Weiss, Ph.D., J.D. Principal Consultant, Jillian T. Weiss & Associates, and Assistant Professor of Law and Society, Ramapo College of New Jersey, Mahwah, NJ, and Robyn Ochs, Ed.M., a professional speaker on bisexual identity and editor of Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World, Boston, MA.