Transgender Day of Visibility
At Mabel Wadsworth Center, our interns are responsible for updating the bulletin board in our waiting room once a month. Past topics have included healthy relationships, safer sex, abortion stories and more. In case you haven’t had the chance to visit us recently, you can read about our bulletin board here. This post is by our social work intern, Olivia Watson, a student at the University of Maine.
Transgender Day of Visibility aims to bring attention to the accomplishments of transgender people around the globe. Every year on March 31, events are held around the world for a day of empowerment and recognition. With this day nearing, it is important to remember that with more visibility comes more understanding. The number of troubling statistics about the trans community shed light on the reason why trans people need more visibility. Here are just a few of those statistics:
- 1 in 5 transgender people have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives and 1 in 8 have been evicted due to being transgender.
- 80% of trans students feel unsafe at school because of their gender expression
- Trans people of color are 6x more likely to experience physical violence when interacting with the police than white cisgender people.
In order to reduce the number of statistics like these, it is important to support the transgender community. There are many things you can do to be a part of Transgender Day of Visibility. Below is a list of five ideas:
- Support trans-led organizations! Less than 10% of grants supporting LGBTQ organizations go to organizations led by transgender people. Trans Justice Funding Project, Sylvia Rivera Law Project and MaineTransNet are all examples of trans-led organizations.
- Recognize the intersections of transness and other identities. Use the hashtag #BlackTransLivesMatter.
- Make women’s spaces welcoming of trans women.
- Educate yourself on terminology about gender identity an expression.
- Speak up when someone says something transphobic or cissexist.
Another way to show your support for Transgender Day of Visibility is to attend local events on March 31st. This year, our local event is being hosted by MaineTransNet in West Market Square in downtown Bangor from 10AM-Noon. Their mission is to support and empower transgender people to create a world where they can thrive. We will be joining them to support our transgender clients and friends. We welcome you and your family to join us and show your support. Signs are welcome.