November 13 – 19 marks Transgender Awareness Week, a time for us to honor, celebrate, and uplift our trans community.  With anti-trans violence, rhetoric and legislation at an all-time high, it’s more important than ever to educate the public about who transgender people are, share stories and experiences, and advance advocacy around issues of prejudice, discrimination, and violence that affect the transgender community.

tl;dr: We are donating to three organizations to honor Transgender Awareness Week, and encourage you to join us! And either way, please check out the links below for a briefer on this occasion.

Transgender Awareness Week leads into Transgender Day of Remembrance (Sunday, November 20,) a time to honor those trans people we have lost, and to advocate for a world in which trans people are no longer targets for hate. Transgender Day Of Remembrance was founded by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998.

In the spirit of our collective effort to amplify underrepresented voices and take action to build a more inclusive, equitable future, we ask that you take a few minutes to explore the following resources.

The information and resources below are brought to you by Prism, Civic’s Employee Resource Group for LGBTQIA+ folks and allies.

DO: understand the current cultural context for Transgender people.

• From bans on gender affirming care to restrictions on name changes, state lawmakers across the United States have introduced a slew of anti-trans legislation this year – 155 bills in total. Trans youth are the most frequent targets of lawmakers, via bills aimed at preventing trans girls and women from playing on female sports teams, laws barring trans youth from using bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity, and restrictions on gender-affirming medical care.

• Transgender people experience rampant workplace discrimination – more than one in four transgender people have lost a job due to bias, and more than three-fourths have experienced some form of workplace discrimination.

• 2021 saw a record high number of violent fatal attacks against trans and gender nonconforming people. The majority of these people were Black and Latinx transgender women.

• According to a 2021 Gallup poll, 68% of Americans believe they have never personally met anyone who is transgender. That means the majority of the public’s education and awareness about transgender people has been informed by more than a century’s worth of media which has overwhelmingly misrepresented and mischaracterized who trans people are – significantly influencing public perceptions, policy, and attitudes about the trans community.

PARTICIPATE: in efforts that raise awareness around the stories and lived experiences of transgender people.

• Encourage any transgender people in your life to participate in the United States Transgender Survey, live through December 5, 2022.  The United States Transgender Survey documents the lives and experiences of trans and nonbinary people ages 16+ in the U.S. and U.S. territories, providing much-needed information to help the public understand the lives and experiences of transgender people in the United States and the disparities that many transgender people face. The USTS fills in some of the large gaps in research about transgender people, and it provides critical tools for researchers, policymakers, and advocates seeking to better understand the needs of transgender people and to find ways to improve their lives.

• Attend or organize a vigil on Trandgender Day of Remembrance, November 20, to honor all those whose lives were lost to anti-transgender violence this year. Vigils are typically hosted by local transgender advocates or LGBTQ organizations, and held at community centers, parks, places of worship and other venues.

• Explore art and media from Transgender creators:

  • Disclosure (as noted in our Pride message earlier this year): “In this documentary, leading trans creatives and thinkers share heartfelt perspectives and analysis about Hollywood’s impact on the trans community.”

  • SOPHIE Livestream: A mix composed by the late musician SOPHIE, a groundbreaking electronic musician and one of the three first openly transgender women to be nominated for a Grammy.

  • Interview with Elliot Page: Seth Meyers speaks with the actor about his transition in the context of his career and personal life, “and how embracing joy has made him a better actor.”

  • Trans Girl Suicide Museum by Hannah Baer: “One part ketamine spiral, one part confessional travelogue from the edge of gender, TGSM is a hallucinatory transmission on sex, identity, the internet, and the flickering wish not to exist in a given body at a given point in time.”

DONATE: to organizations that support the Trans community.

This year, Prism is proud to be donating to each of the following organizations who advocate for and support the transgender community in different ways. We encourage you to join us!

• Lambda Legal: a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of transgender people, lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.

• For The Gworls: a Black, trans-led collective that curates parties to fundraise money to help Black transgender people pay for housing, medical services, and other essential costs.

• G.L.I.T.S: A grassroots organization dedicated to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community on a global scale. G.L.I.T.S. creates holistic solutions for the health and housing crises faced by TGBLQIA+ individuals in the NYC area.

Thank you for taking the time to read this year’s Transgender Awareness Week message, and please reach out to the People Team or the Prism ERG with any questions, comments or concerns.