Trans Day of Visibility

Tuesday 04-04-2017 - 09:26
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On Friday 31 March, Durham's LGBT+a commemorated Trans Day of Visibility (TDoV) we asked a member of their exec to tell us about why it is so important. 

"As you might know, last Friday, it was Trans Day of Visibility. Trans people all over the world recognised this day- you might have seen pictures posted on social media, or the TDoV filter being used on Facebook profile pictures. Personally, this weekend, I came out to my cousin as trans. His instant reaction was to ask if I ‘wanted to become a woman’, reflecting one of the main issues I find in conversations about trans issues and rights. Often, people have a very binary perspective, assuming a desire transition to the ‘opposite’ gender from the one assigned at birth. However, as a trans community, we reflect a wide diversity of people, including but not limited to men, women, non-binary, agender, genderfluid, bigender, neutrois, gender-non conforming, genderqueer, and people who choose not to categorise their gender. Yet often, the discussion of less well-known identities often seems to include people casting doubt on their legitimacy, including accusations of being a ‘special snowflake’. It is really disheartening and sad to hear this.

In actuality, no-one has a monopoly on what diversity should look like, and the fact you personally might not identify that way does not mean it is any less valid. In 2014, a study found that approximately 0.4% (over 250,000 people) of the United Kingdom’s population identified as non-binary. Roughly this would be about 1 in every 250 people. It was hypothesised that this would be a lot higher if more gender identity options were given on the national census. Unfortunately, however, in the UK non-binary gender identities are not currently legally recognised. It’s important to remember that gender identity is not determined by the sex you’re assigned at birth, which itself is very narrow. Our modern Western binary system provides a very limited understanding of sex, especially when there are at least 40 different variations of intersex currently recognised by medical and scientific communities.

It’s important to think about diversity along other dimensions of oppression too. The trans people given the most visibility are often white, able-bodied, and thin. This contrasts to the groups who face the most marginalisation. For example, an American study found that trans people of colour, and particularly trans women of colour, were at least six times more likely than white cisgender people to experience physical violence when interacting with the police. It is important that we, as LGBT+ and trans groups and campaigns, do not tokenise trans people of colour, and instead actively support them. We must no longer simply be bystanders, and instead actively support their campaigns and work. We must ensure their voices are being heard, instead of trying to talk over them, or taking offence to slogans that centre the need to challenge their oppression, such as ‘Black Lives Matter’.

Finally, Trans Day of Visibility is only one of three days of the year that has an international focus on the issues and lives of trans people. However, like the other two days (Trans Day of Remembrance and Trans Prisoner Day of Action and Solidarity), it provides only a 24 hour glimpse of the ongoing oppressions and invisibility that trans people face. Many of us are constantly having to fight to be recognised as we are, rather than what the doctor signed on our birth certificate. It’s amazing how we have got into a habit of saying ‘it’s 2017’, assuming that we should be at an advanced level in our support for Human Rights, including trans rights, yet if you look at the US things have arguably gone into reverse. Even in North Carolina, where there was a huge hope that the HB2 (one of the infamous ‘bathroom laws’) would be reversed, many people have been left disappointed. The ‘compromise’ will prevent towns, universities, and colleges from extending non-discrimination policy around sexual orientation or gender identity until 2020.

Thank you for reading, and if you’d like to know more about upcoming campaigns and events, you can find us (the LGBT+ association) on Facebook. I hope you will join us in supporting trans students in Durham, and trans people worldwide". 

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