The month of November is home to many different things that we celebrate and take part of as Americans. There is the Presidential Voting on the 8th, Veteran's day on the 11th, and Thanksgiving on the 24th. It also happens to be Transgender Awareness Month, Transgender Awareness week (14-20) and Transgender Day of Remembrance on the 20th. There are a large number of issues that face the transgender community that should be brought to light that most American's don't typically have to worry about during their day. It's incredible just how many of the problems that we face are just because of the simple fact that we are transgender, without much other reasoning behind it.
In recent years, there has been a large spike in people coming out as trans, as the world becomes a more accepting place overall to be who you really are. While you can find basically anyone around the globe to support you, there are also a large number of people that are looking to spread hate and bring someone down as low as they can so that you won't be happy with yourself.
What is Transgender Awareness Month/Week
Transgender Awareness Month is all about bringing light to the issues that we face, as well as just shedding light surrounding the notion that there are more people around you that are transgender than most people actually realize. These include people in your immediate or extended family, so you just have to be careful in how you talk or communicate your views about trans people, because you may just be talking about your own child. There are a large number of trans people that are scared of coming out because of how they hear their family talking about them and believe that they will be surrounded by hate with little to no acceptance.
34% of transgender people commit suicide, and much more than that have some form of depression stemming from their home life or support (or lack thereof). This is something that it seems a lot of transgender people that I know have been going through, and it's a statistic that I am even part of. I've heard people tell me that it is hard to imagine someone being so low or feeling like this in a way that their last option would be to harm themselves, but this is a very real reality that a lot of people face. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicide, you can go to http://www.thetrevorproject.org/ and get the help you need.
There have been 87 documented murders of trans folk around the globe this year. In reality, this number is probably much higher because not all the time does the murder get reported, or they get misrepresented in the documents stating their gender incorrectly. A majority of the time, these murders come from an area of just pure hatred and are just targetted as hating the transgender community.
During the month, both transgender people and allies try to show just what it is that has been having an effect on the community, that is unfair to people in general. For example, there are an overwhelming amount of trans folk that are unemployed or homeless, because of the fact that they are trans and being denied the basic decency of providing for themselves in the most basic of senses. 14% of Trans people are unemployed (~4.9% average), which results in about 15% living on $10,000 a year, or less.
What is Transgender Day of Remembrance
As GLAAD states: "Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was started by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor her memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence that year and began an important memorial that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Participate in Transgender Day of Remembrance by attending or organizing a vigil on November 20 to honor all those whose lives were lost to anti-transgender violence that year. Vigils are typically hosted by local transgender advocates or LGBT organizations, and held at community centers, parks, places of worship and other venues. The vigil often involves reading a list of the names of those who died that year. See the TDOR website at www.transgenderdor.org."
Remembering those who we've lost is something to remind us to keep going and be who we really are, even though that it can be extremely difficult to do so.
You Are Not Alone
If you are someone who is transgender, or questioning your gender, find support groups on Facebook or in your community and know that you do have love and support surrounding you in many different ways. While it may not always seem like it, you are always welcome to join one of these groups. Just find help when you're ready, and you'll really see that you are not alone in this.
