More Americans have claimed to have seen a ghost than a transgender person.

That statistic is according to trans activist Faye Seidler, who is calling on trans people to come out and be open in every part of their lives if it is safe to do so.

An activist from Fargo, North Dakota, she was misgendered and discriminated against the hospital she worked for while she transitioned, and ultimately was forced to leave. She is now working to fight for employment rights for trans people.

‘As a trans leader, offering education and outreach for my community, I’m not afraid to fight,’ she said in a recent profile in the New York Times. ‘And most importantly, that I will never give up the fight to be treated human.’

What’s concerning is that Seidler may well be very accurate when she said trans people were less visible in Americans’ lives than ghosts.

Nearly one-in-five US adults (18%) have claimed to have seen or been in the presence of a ghost, according to a 2009 Pew Research Center survey.

And in 2013, a Public Religion Research Institute survey found only 9% of US adults had said they had met a trans person. 24% also said they were not sure what the word ‘transgender’ meant and 5% said they had not heard the term before.