Despite a significant rise in trans visibility this year, the US has still got a way to go. Levels of LGBT acceptances are at a startling low – with trans people being banned from toilets, schools, and even gender-appropriate prisons. That's not even mentioning the shocking spike in murder cases this year.

However, a recent survey discovered by Pink News may have found an answer for all this. According to results pulled from a 2009 Public Religion Research Institute survey, most American people believe that they’ve never even met a transgender person before. In fact, double the amount are more certain that they’ve seen – or been in the presence of – a ghost. 

The study found that 18 per cent of people across the USA genuinely claim to have hung out with a dead person at some point, compared with just nine per cent who believed that they’d met a transgender person. And, according to stats pulled from the same Insitute in 2013, 24 per cent of Americans are not even sure what the word “transgender” means, with 5 per cent completely unaware of the term.

The results were discovered by trans activist Faye Seidler, who was hoping to raise awareness of national ignorance, as well as encouraging more trans people to speak out about their experiences. “As a trans leader, offering education and outreach for my community, I’m not afraid to fight,” she revealed in a recent interview the New York Times. “And most importantly, I will never give up the fight to be treated human.”