According to the survey ‘Being Trans in the European Union’ by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Dutch population are the most open-minded towards trans* people in the three areas of life: private life, working, life and health care. Nevertheless, only half of the interviewees live out their identity in private life and only a third in working life. Interviewees rate their quality of life with 6.6 out of 10 as slightly below the European average (6.9), while interviewees living in Germany rate it at 7.2. It remains to be seen whether the specific protection of trans* people introduced in the Netherlands in 2019 under the term ‘gender identity’ in anti-discrimination legislation will make improvements.

According to the FRA survey, 8% of trans* people surveyed in the Netherlands were victims of hate crime in 2011, seven times more often than cis people. According to the FRA  discrimination without physical violence happens even more often. 45% of the interviewees report experiencing discrimination such as harassment or inappropriate comments. 24% of the trans* people avoid dressing accordingly to their gender identity, which was lower by one quarter compared to the European average, but the avoidance of certain places due to negative experiences is  54%, a little higher than the European average.

Experiences of discrimination in education and employment give a partly more positive picture. The students surveyed in the 2011 FRA study perceive the atmosphere towards them to one third as positive, mixed and negative in each case, in the workplace almost two third have the impression that their environment is rather positive and 19% perceive their environment as having an attitude towards them. Despite this, almost 60% said they had heard negative comments at least once. Of those who were looking for work in 2011, 50% reported discrimination, which is the third highest proportion across Europe (after Belgium and Ireland). On the other hand, the International Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association Europe (ILGA) points out, that options under labour law, such as leave of absence for surgical operation, means positive development.

According to the FRA study 2014, healthcare sector shows a variegated pattern. The Netherlands is in the lower middle of European countries in terms of the incidence of discrimination by health workers. However, the proportion of those who felt discriminated against in the healthcare sector in 2011 is still almost one-fifth. In addition, the health care system has insufficient trans* specifically trained physicians, so that waiting periods of up to one year are possible, which can be challenging especially for children and adolescents, when they are taking medication to prevent sex specific developments in puberty.