Nine states’ voter ID laws may create substantial barriers to voting and possible disenfranchisement for over 25,000 transgender voters this November. Strict photo ID states require voters to present government-issued photo identification in order to vote. Transgender voters who have transitioned from their assigned sex at birth to live full-time in a different gender face unique challenges to obtaining accurate government-issued identification. According to the new Williams Institute report, 41 percent of transgender citizens who have transitioned reported not having an updated driver’s license and 74 percent did not have an updated U.S. passport.  Moreover, 27 percent of transgender citizens who have transitioned reported that they had no identity documents or records that list their current gender.  People of color, youth, students, those with low incomes, and respondents with disabilities are likely to be disproportionately impacted.

The 25,000 transgender voters who will face these barriers would have otherwise been eligible to vote in the following nine states in the November 2012 general election:  Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. All of these states have passed strict photo ID laws and could have them in place for the November election.

Transgender residents of Massachusetts have reported experiencing discrimination in employment. Loss of employment due to anti-transgender bias often means lost wages, lost health insurance coverage, and housing instability. This study estimates that the impact of discrimination is likely to cost the Commonwealth millions of dollars each year.

Employers report zero or very low costs and yet substantial benefits, for them and their employees alike, when they provide transition-related health care coverage in their employee health benefit plans. The report finds that a majority of employers reported that they would encourage other employers to add the coverage, and none would advise against it. Thirty-four employers participated in a survey to describe their transition-inclusive health benefits plans, how much these plans have cost them, and what, if any, benefits they receive from providing their transition-inclusive plans.

Key findings from the survey include:

• Eighty-five percent (85%) of the 26 employers that provided information on costs of adding coverage to their existing health benefits plans reported no additional costs to add the coverage.• Two-thirds of the 21 employers that provided information on actual costs from employee utilization of the coverage reported zero actual costs due to utilization.• Based on the experiences of surveyed employers, 1 out of 10,000 employees (among employers with 1,000 to 10,000 employees) and 1 out of 20,000 employees (among employers with 10,000 to 50,000 employees) will utilize transition-related health benefits annually when they are available.• The type, number, and cost of services accessed by individuals will vary, yet as described above, the costs of these benefits, if any, are very low, as is the utilization of the benefit.

These findings are consistent with prior research that has shown employers generally benefit from providing LGBT-inclusive workplace policies. Survey participants for this study were all employers known to provide transition-related health care coverage for employees through their health benefits plans.