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More than a fifth of people in Northern Ireland are prejudiced against the transgender community, an academic survey has found.<\/p>\nMore than a fifth of people in Northern Ireland are prejudiced against the transgender community, an academic survey has found.<\/p>\n
The study by Ark, a joint initiative between Queen\u2019s University Belfast and Ulster University, revealed that 21% of those questioned are prejudiced towards transgender people, but 72% describe themselves as \u201cnot prejudiced at all\u201d.<\/p>\n
Seven percent said they did not know.<\/p>\n
The report, Missing T: Baselining Attitudes Towards Transgender People in Northern Ireland, was compiled using data from the 2018 Northern Ireland Life and Times (Nilt) Survey.<\/p>\n
It also showed that those who know a transgender person are less prejudiced and more approving of transgender rights.<\/p>\n
Further findings include that more than half of the survey population approve of, or are comfortable with, transgender people accessing public toilets, utilizing domestic violence refuges and changing their legal gender<\/p>\n
Females were found to be considerably more comfortable than males with transgender people using domestic violence refuges, and with an individual having the right to change their birth certificate to reflect their acquired gender.<\/p>\n
Report co-author Dr Siobhan McAlister, from the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen\u2019s University Belfast, said it is one of relatively few surveys of attitudes towards transgender people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe survey results point to positive attitudes towards transgender people and fairly high levels of support for the realization of their rights,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Co-author Dr Gail Neill, from the School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences at Ulster University, said: \u201cIn recent times we have witnessed unprecedented levels of interest in matters of gender and sexual diversity and identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has resulted in part from increased visibility, news coverage, entertainment storylines and celebrity culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile part of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) acronym, the \u2018T\u2019 has often been overlooked in popular debate, research and services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nilt data demonstrates the importance of collecting and analyzing attitudes towards gender identities separately to attitudes towards sexual identities.\u201d<\/p>\n