Transgender Awareness Week & TDoR
Ryan Sullivan
Global Talent Acquisition - Associate Director and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion ?? at Gravitas Group
Saturday 20th November marked Transgender Day of Remembrance, a significant event which honours the memory of those who have lost their lives because of anti-transgender discrimination or acts of violence.
The day falls at the end of Transgender Awareness Week which occurs from the 13th to the 19th of November and aims to raise the visibility of and highlight issues experienced by transgender and gender non-conforming people.
Why we need to highlight Transgender Awareness Week
After the summer months, it appears that most companies who ‘rainbow washed’ their pages for pride have ceased to post anything relating to wider LGBTQ+ awareness, leading to questions around the validity of their commitment to LGBTQ+ rights and equality. In order to enact positive, long-lasting change, it is essential to proactively demonstrate support and practice D&I, including sharing knowledge to the wider community.
As part of this, it is important to know that the transgender community (and most notably the black transgender community), helped to pave the way for every member & ally of the LGBTQ+ community.??
A glimpse into history
Transgender people have always been here, recorded throughout history right back to ancient times in every society across the globe. While we know this to be the case, there is a worrying lack of information on the transgender community in modern history as these communities and the authors of these works may fear being persecuted.
For people that have knowledge on LGBTQ+ history, the Stonewall riots may come to mind as a significant turning point - an uprising which started at a gay bar in New York in 1969 after police raided a popular gay bar (an act of police brutality and discrimination that was common at the time) and sparked demonstrations across the city, throughout the USA and eventually across the world as the LGBTQ+ community demanded to live openly without fear of prosecution or retaliation.
And who initiated the riots?
Marsha P “Pay it no mind” Johnson & Sylvia Rivera (along with Storme DeLarverie) were the powerhouses of the Stonewall riots. Marsha was the first to resist police action, Sylvia was the first to retaliate at police and Storme allegedly threw the first punch. Thanks to them and everyone else involved, these actions helped to catalyse the gay rights movement. Marsha and Sylvia also went on to found STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) to help homeless members of the community.
“You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights.” Marsha P Johnson
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Modern Day
I’ll say this again & louder for the people at the back – the transgender community (and most notably the black transgender community) helped to pave the way for every member & ally of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Stonewall riots and those who participated joined other transgender pioneers throughout history from Chevalier d’Eon (French spy from the 1700’s), to Lucy Hicks Anderson (socialite), Lili Elbe (Danish Painter), Wendy Carlos (American composer and musician), Renée Richards (American ophthalmologist and previous tennis player) and April Ashley (English model & actress).?
In current culture, there are numerous trans icons who are helping to cement and celebrate the existence of the trans community such as DJ & producer Honey Dijon, politician Andrea Jenkins (who was the first openly transgender black woman elected to public office in the USA), actresses Laverne Cox, MJ Rodriguez and Indya Moore, singer Kim Petras, actress and model Dominique Jackson and actor Elliot Page. These are only a few names that are helping to propel the voice of millions.
What can you do to help support transgender and LGBTQ+ rights?
1)?????It’s important to know that Gender identity, expression and sexual orientation are different. You can be a trans woman and be homosexual, heterosexual, asexual or bisexual (etc.).?
2)??Language: use inclusive language (‘Hi everyone’ rather than ‘Hi guys’) and introduce yourself with your pronouns – “Hi my name is Ryan and I use the pronouns he/him.” Normalise their usage by putting it on your email signature and social media profiles. Never assume someone’s gender identity/ pronouns, ask someone how they feel comfortable being referred to.
3)?“Passability”: Never comment on someone’s gender appearance or how much they appear to be a certain gender or, if you know they are transgender, how much they ‘pass’ as a certain gender e.g., ‘you would never know’. This is not only plain rude to highlight anyone’s personal appearance, but particularly damaging as it sets an expectation in society of what transgender people, or for that matter what any woman or man is ‘supposed’ to look like.
4)?Educate yourself on all forms of diversity and have a zero-tolerance policy for any kind of discrimination. This doesn’t just include violence, it also includes microaggressions like jokes about outdated and ignorant stereotypes and deliberate misgendering
5)Listen: being trans is not someone’s complete identity. Everyone has their own stories, experiences and interests – and this is no different from anyone else.If you do make mistakes, apologise, learn and move forward.
6) It is never okay to deadname someone (calling a transgender person by their birthname, especially when they have told you to use another name).
In highlighting these important issues, it’s also important to think about other questions like how are you going to educate yourself further on the trans community? Which of these measures are you going to take onboard and what other ways can you suggest to help support trans community?
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