November 13th sees the beginning of Transgender Awareness Week, a week dedicated to celebrating Trans+ people, and education for the world around them. Whilst intended as a simple way to increase education, the increasing visibility of Trans+ people and political discourse around our very existence means in recent years, this week is often marred by hate, division and a lack of understanding, likely to get worse with the rise of Reform UK and the return of Donald Trump. Trans+ people, of all ages including our very youngest, are increasingly facing an uphill battle for recognition, acceptance, equal healthcare and simple safety, virtues which are increasingly difficult to come by, it seems.
Transgender Awareness Week was founded to memorialise the victims of transphobic violence, both the survivors and those who lost their lives. Whilst not widely covered, last year’s events received much higher media coverage than normal in the United Kingdom following the murder of Brianna Ghey, a young Trans+ girl who was lured to her death by her two classmates. She was 16. Following hundreds of vigils after her death in February 2023, last year’s Transgender Awareness Week was the first to be commemorated since Brianna’s murder, a deeply emotional and difficult period for many Trans+ people around the country and world, with the same fears Brianna had, that were confirmed in the most brutal of ways.
Transgender Awareness Week culminates in one of the most difficult events of the year for Trans+ people, a day where our communities come together to mourn and fight for a better tomorrow. Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is an annual event, marked on November 20th, when we remember all those we’ve lost, both in the past year and in years previously. It is a chance to grieve and mourn together, in a safe space with those going through emotions a strong as your own.
Sheffield’s community marks this day alongside hundreds of TDoR events across the country, with this year’s memorial organised by LGBTQ+ youth charity SAYiT, and held at the Winter Gardens from 5:30 pm on November 20th. It is a deeply moving and personal vigil, and I urge all to show up on that day, to learn, to mourn and to support your local Trans+ community who find this event so difficult.
Transgender Awareness Week is a chance to commemorate, celebrate and learn together, whilst also recognising the deep troubles facing Trans+ people on a daily basis. Whether it’s the ongoing puberty blocker restrictions, the lack of a conversion ‘therapy’ ban or even just the trouble of having to worry whether you will be the victim of a hate crime in the toilet this time, all in a period of extensive and rising transphobia and erasure, Trans+ people’s lives are a difficult balance, often literally, between life and death. Only through education, understanding and empathy can we heal and grow as a community, and we need everyone, both Trans+ and Cis, to fight together for a future.
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