This is how you can celebrate, advocate on International Trans Day of Visibility – Orange County Register

The transgender community, along with its allies, will come together again on Friday, March 31 to celebrate and stand up for their rights.

Dozens of events are planned across Southland on Friday in honor of International Trans Day of Visibility, an annual event that celebrates both trans and gender-wide people, and raises awareness of political, social violence and increasing physique against their communities.

President Joe Biden issued a proclamation Thursday, March 30 recognizing Transgender Visibility Day. California lawmakers also recognized Trans Visibility Week with several events on Capitol Hill.

Trans Day of Visibility was originally created in 2009 by trans activist Rachel Crandall-Crocker, who currently heads the advocacy group Transgender Michigan.

“I wanted to create a day so we didn’t have to be alone anymore,” Crandall-Crocker wrote in a 2021 article for Them Magazine.

Trans Visibility Day, since its inception over a decade ago, has grown in popularity – with events to honor and celebrate the lives of trans people, while recognizing that discrimination still prevents many people from coming out and live authentically. The day is celebrated around the world every year on March 31.

As attacks and discriminatory legislation against the LGBTQ community – especially transgender youth and adults – are on the rise in the United States, Trans Visibility Day is a crucial platform for members of the community to assert their existence and demand human rights, while calling for allies to better support the trans and queer community, advocates say.

Transgender people are more than four times more likely to be victims of violent crime, including rape and aggravated assault, than those who are cisgender – people whose gender identity or expression matches their biological sex – according to a 2021 study from the UCLA School of Law.

Last year, at least 38 trans and gender non-conforming people were murdered, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The organization noted that this number is likely an undercount, as some victims’ deaths go unreported, while others are not identified as trans or gender nonconforming.

Then there is the anti-LGBTQ legislation.

This year alone, more than 400 anti-LGBTQ bills have already been introduced in state legislatures across the United States, according to the Human Rights Campaign – many of which specifically target young transgender and non-binary communities.

Ninety of those bills, the HRC said, would prevent trans youth from accessing age-appropriate, medically necessary and gender-affirming health care – two of which have already become law – alongside a slew of toilet bans and other anti-LGBTQ bills.

The legislation proposed this year continues a strong upward trend in discriminatory anti-LGBTQ bills that have been introduced in state legislatures since 2021, the HRC said.

“These relentless attacks on transgender people are causing real damage even in states where legislation fails,” Olivia Hunt, policy director for the National Transgender Center for Equality, said in a February HRC press release. “75% of all LGBTQ+ youth say hate crimes and threats of violence cause stress and anxiety — and that’s no surprise, as they try to live their lives.

Trans Visibility Day, meanwhile, is meant to be a response to the onslaught of hate aimed at trans, gender-broad and non-binary people.

“Even though there are a number of bills targeted against us right now, I still think that since Visibility Day started, things have really changed for the better for young people,” Crandall wrote- Crocker. “I dream of a day when we can just be human like everyone else. And I really believe that will happen.

Here’s a look at some Trans Day of Visibility events scheduled for Southern California.

Inner Empire

Riverside LGBTQ+ Pride will hold its Queer and Trans Youth Empowerment March at 4 p.m. Friday. Protesters will gather in downtown Riverside, outside Back to the Grind at 3575 University Ave., and march toward City Hall.

Several elected officials, including Council Member Erin Edwards, Assembly Member Sabrina Cervantes and Representative Mark Takano, will speak at the march, according to the Riverside LGBTQ+ Pride website.

Organizers said they hope the march will inspire broader dialogue on a range of issues facing trans and queer youth, from keeping them safe in schools to developing policies that protect the right to gender-affirming health care.

“It’s time we collectively advocate for trans and queer youth to be one,” the event page reads. “Next, we’ll hear from a few different speakers on the issues facing trans and queer youth today.”

More information about this event can be found on the Riverside Pride website.

Los Angeles

QueerXcellence, a community organization in LA, will organize a walk in Hollywood called “Trans Day of Vengeance”.

There has been a misconception around the term “revenge,” trans advocates said — with many in the LGBTQ community assuming the term involves violence. Twitter even deleted thousands of tweets and retweets referring to “Trans Day of Vengeance”.

Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of trust and safety, said in a tweet on Wednesday (March 29) that the company automatically removed more than 5,000 tweets and retweets from a poster promoting the event.

“We do not support tweets that incite violence, regardless of who posts them,” Irwin wrote in the tweet. “’Revenge’ does not imply peaceful protest. Organizing or supporting peaceful protests is fine.

But trans people and activists have stressed that the term has been around in the community for years and is not a call for violence.

“‘Trans Day of Vengeance’ is not a specific day or a call for violence,” said Evan Greer, director of nonprofit Fight for the Future. “It’s (a) way to express anger and frustration at the oppression and violence that the trans community faces on a daily basis.

“Context is everything in content moderation,” added Greer, “which is why content policies should be human rights-based and applied consistently, not changed quickly based on pressure. public or news cycles”.

The tweets that were deleted largely referred to an event planned for Saturday, April 1 by the Trans Radical Activist Network in the United States Supreme Court.

“This protest is about unity, not incitement to violence. TRAN does not encourage violence and it is not welcome at this event,” the organization wrote on its website. “Our community is stigmatized and has a significant impact on marginalized communities at a higher intensity.”

Organizers of the LA protest, meanwhile, said much the same thing in an Instagram post.

“Trans people are being killed at a terrifying rate. Along with the new legislation, the shift will only get worse,” QueerXcellence wrote on its Instagram page. “We refuse to live in fear, we refuse to be eradicated – come celebrate Trans Visibility Day with us…loudly.”

The protest will begin at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue at 5 p.m.

long beach

For folks along the coast, the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach will host a Trans Visibility Day Resource Fair at Bixby Park, 130 Cherry Ave.

“The resource fair during Trans Visibility Day will be an opportunity to celebrate the life and existence of the transgender and gender-extended community in Long Beach,” according to Visit Gay Long Beach.

After the Resource Fair – which begins at 2:00 p.m. – the event will continue with live music and entertainment from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Orange County

The Orange County LGBTQ Center will be hosting an event called “Stand in Your Truth” at the center located at 4th, 305 E. Fourth St. in Santa Ana.

The event — which kicks off at 6 p.m. — will feature trans resources, live music, an art exhibit, an open mic night and a glam closet, according to the event page.

“This event is open to anyone who wants to connect, share and celebrate the trans community in a safe and welcoming space,” the website says. “We are excited to provide wellness and education resources, as well as an open mic where community members can register and share their poetry, writings, speeches or experiences.”

More information is available on the OC LGBTQ Center website.