In the week leading up to Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), it is important to take time to reflect on and educate ourselves about matters of gender, violence, and justice. These realities are interwoven with our understanding of sexual violence and with the principles of prevention that we believe will lay the foundation for change. Transgender and allied communities balance the loss memorialized on November 20 at TDOR with a Transgender Awareness Week that highlights trans experience and celebrates the lives and contributions of our transgender, nonbinary, and other genderqueer neighbors.
Suggestions for Transgender Awareness Week
- Start a Transgender Awareness Week hashtag that highlights local and public transgender people and their contributions, for example U.S. Assistant Health Secretary and former Pennsylvania Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine or the artists of deadname.arts, the first non-cis artists collective in Philadelphia.
- Host a watch party and discussion of the themes noted in Disclosure, streaming on Netflix. (Discussion might include the transphobic content of Dave Chappelle’s recent program also streaming there and the criticism and protest Netflix is receiving for sponsoring the show.)
- Petition your municipality for anti-violence protections that include gender identity. Consider the elements needed for a comprehensive nondiscrimination law, such as those outlined by the Center for American Progress (https://www.americanprogress.org/article/nondiscrimination-protections-f...).
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