Twitter chat: What’s the status of transgender rights in the U.S.?

Last month, 11 states sued the administration of President Barack Obama over his directive to allow students to use restrooms that correspond to their gender identity. When it comes to the transgender community, bathrooms have been a focus of public debate. But critics of that debate say that it constitutes only a small part of the story, and that other areas that make up daily life for transgender people — including employment, housing, education and harassment — are urgently important to address.

The National Center for Transgender Equality has noted that there is a scarce amount of research devoted to the transgender community. A 2011 study by the center found that transgender respondents reported unemployment at twice the rate of the general population, and that 90 percent “reported experiencing harassment, mistreatment or discrimination” at work.

In our latest #NewsHourChats, we heard more from experts about the intersection of personal experience and the legal system of protections for the transgender community. Our guests were the executive director of the Transgender Law Center, Kris Hayashi (@krishayashi), BuzzFeed national LGBT reporter Dominic Holden (@dominicholden), writer and educator Alex Myers (@MyersWriting), writer Raquel Willis (@RaquelWillis_) and Equal Justice Works Legal Fellow for the LGBT Law Project Eugene Chen (@nylag).