International Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) is an annual event occurring on March 31st each year. The day is dedicated to celebrating Trans people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by Trans people worldwide. Trans Day of Visibility is a time to focus on the positive elements of Trans people’s lives.
Here are 8 things that you can do to honour and celebrate Trans Day of Visibility:
- Hold an event at work or in your community and use #TDOV or #MoreThanVisibility on social media.
- Learn about Trans history: Did you know that Trans women of color were on the front lines of Stonewall or that a Transgender woman exposed the U.S. Government’s war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan?
- Support Trans organisations and signpost to local Trans groups such as:
- Trans Leeds Transleedscontact@gmail.com
- Trans Fit http://www.trans-fit.co.uk/about
- Mesmac http://www.mesmac.co.uk/find-help/support-groups
- Leeds Survivor-led Crisis Service LGB and T Support Groups http://www.lslcs.org.uk/how-can-we-help/group-work/lgbt-group
- Leeds Mind http://www.leedsmind.org.uk/trans-peer-support-group/
- Don’t “out” your Trans Friends/colleagues/people! Ask or just keep quiet!
- Know the Differences Between Gender Identity, Gender Expression, Sex Assigned at Birth, Sexual orientation, and Emotional Attraction
- Know to ALWAYS refer to a Trans person by their gender identity and not their sex assigned at birth. Gender is also much more complicated than the sex/gender/sexual orientation distinction. Trans Black people, people of faith, disabled people and so on, can experience multiple discrimination and oppression and this needs to be acknowledged.
- Make women’s spaces inclusive of Trans women, Trans women are WOMEN and if you fall at this first hurdle you need to seriously question your commitment to equality.
- Learn Trans terminology and keep learning, as like most things, it changes!
For more information on these issues, check out these fab 1 minute videos from Leeds City Council:
