Transgender Awareness Week 2021
Each year between November 13th – 19th, people and organisations around the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility about transgender people and address issues members of the community face.
What is Transgender Awareness Week?
Transgender Awareness Week is a week when transgender people and their allies take action to bring attention to the community by educating the public about who transgender people are, sharing stories and experiences, and advancing advocacy around the issues of prejudice, discrimination, and violence that affects the transgender community.
What You Can Do This Transgender Awareness Week?
This year for Transgender Awareness Week, GLAAD is encouraging everyone to watch the documentary DISCLOSURE on Netflix. The feature from director Sam Feder and executive producer Lavern Cox explores the history of trans representation in TV and film in unprecedented form, revealing how Hollywood simultaneously reflects and manufactures people’s deepest anxieties about gender.
Given that 80% Americans believe they have never personally met someone who is transgender, that means the majority of the public’s education and awareness about this community has been informed by more than a century’s worth of media which has overwhelmingly misrepresented and mischaracterised who trans people are–significantly influencing public perceptions, policy, and attitudes about the trans community.
It’s been said that once people see the media stereotypes, tropes, and clichéd portrayals stacked together in DISCLOSURE, it’s impossible to unsee them. For trans people and allies, DISCLOSURE is an important survey of how media has treated trans people, influencing not only how trans people have come to view themselves but also how the world has, with a call-to-action to better understand and support the community–on screen and off.
Tips For Allies of Transgender People
GLADD have put together a number of resources which provide tips for allies of transgender people. These tips can be used as you move toward becoming a better ally to transgender people. Of course, this list is not exhaustive and cannot include all the “right” things to do or say because often there is no one “right” answer to every situation you might encounter.
When you become an ally of transgender people, your actions will help change the culture, making society a better, safer place for transgender people and for all people (trans or not) who do not conform to conventional gender expectations.
Click here to view these resources.
Support and More Information…
Mindline Trans+ is an emotional and mental health support helpline for anyone identifying as transgender, non-binary, genderfluid. Contact Mindline Trans+ on 0300 330 5468
Be Trans Support and Development North provides person-centred support, advocacy, peer support services, advice, and information for transgender people and their families. Contact them on 07976344441 or email tara@be-north.org.uk
HumanKind LGBT+ Support offers 1-1 support, family support, LGBTQ groups, and activities. Call on 0191 466 1389 or email: lgbt@humankindcharity.org.uk
