With Trans Visibility Day being today, along with the end of Women’s History month, I wanted to discuss trans women who have been of impact to our community. This community piece is a very important one to me. Trans people are overlooked, underrepresented, underappreciated, and completely disregarded many times in our community. Transphobia runs deep with the “safe” space the LGBTQ+ community has built. The article today will focus on the contributions made by trans women seeing as women’s month is coming to a close.
Trans activism is something that I continually try and push on my blog because it is so important to me. I recently over the summer watched Disclosure, a movie about trans people’s representation in the media and it truly opened a lot of things for me. There is such a hatred towards trans people in this society, that it has become normalized to hate them within their own community. I have discussed Marsha P. Johnson many times on this blog, because she is one of the most important figures in modern day LGBTQ+ liberation. But so many trans people, especially women of color, go unnoticed for their work in the community. We have very few people in office that are trans, in the media that are trans, and a clear lack of good representation. There are people like Laverne Cox, Elliot Page, and M.J. Rodriguez, but there is still a hunger for more people to be shown in our everyday lives. Positive trans representation is difficult to come by, and Disclosure explains why. This movie involves trans people discussing their experiences and is so well done to speak to an audience even if they don’t anything about trans people. One of the things Disclosure, along with all the trans people who helped create it, help show trans people in a good light. This is one of the many things in the last year alone, that trans women and men have brought to the table to help better our community.
Trans people have been and will continue to be our fighters. They stand up for the rest of community on many occasions, while having little to no one in their own corner. Sylvia Rivera is one of these people. She stood up for many marginalized groups “Before gay rights, before the Stonewall, I was involved in the Black Liberation movement, the peace movement...I felt I had the time, and I knew that I had to do something. My revolutionary blood was going back then. I was involved with that.” Many trans activists are activists all around. She was famously booed off the stage after addressing the discrimination and exclusion that was happening at a Gay Pride Parade. Yet, she was one of the forefronts of the entire gay liberation movement. Like I have said before, and will continue to say, that much of what we owe comes down to trans women and other trans individuals. They have been more than activists but complete changemakers in almost every community and we should recognize and applaud them, not just today, but every day.
One more woman I wanted to discuss was someone who has been another pioneer for our community and for many other. LaSaia Wade who has been advocating for the rights of black, trans, LGBTQ+ and women for years. She has helped an immense amount of people in many places around the United States. From the Tennessee Trans Journey Project to the Brave Space Alliance. All helping the LGBTQ+ community in having services being provided on a regular basis. People like Wade have been and will continue to be advocates for our community, even though our community has not reciprocated the same many a time. Even during the BLM Protests she opened up her doors to protesters to get food, water, and shelter. An advocate for many communities Wade is the definition of an activist, doing what she can for our community and others.
This Trans Visibility Day along with the close to Women’s History Month, can provide us with knowledge of what is going on within our community. Women and Trans people alike are represented today, but appreciation should be more. I wanted to take the time to write and hopefully bring discussions to these important problems, while also bringing light to the good as well. Our space needs to be safer for all people, and we can start by acknowledging the wrong and making it right. Happy Trans Visibility Day and happy Women’s History Month!
Sources:
Caroline Medina, S. (n.d.). Improving the lives and rights of LGBTQ people in America. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbtq-rights/reports/2021/01/12/494500/improving-lives-rights-lgbtq-people-america/
Rothberg, E. (n.d.). Sylvia Rivera. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sylvia-rivera
Abel, J. (2020, February 07). 10 black trans* activists you should know. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from https://medium.com/tmi-consulting-inc/10-black-trans-activists-you-should-know-ec69464f66e9
Schoenberg, N. (2020, June 05). Transgender activist LaSaia Wade has made her south Side Lgbtq center a safe Haven, where protesters can get food, water and first aid. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from https://www.chicagotribune.com/social-justice/ct-faces-of-fallout-george-floyd-wade-06042020-20200605-4l2rf6avyvgwbgsiha2vgzux2i-story.html
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