Trans Awareness and Trans Day of Visibility
November 13th marks the start of Trans* Awareness Week, culminating in the Trans Day of Remembrance on November 20th. The intention of the week is to raise awareness of the transgender community and the issues facing it through education and advocacy activities.
As things currently stand, arguably we are more ‘aware’ of trans people than ever before, although unfortunately in the UK, this has largely been as a result of negative coverage over the past 12 months and beyond. Research from 2023 noted an average of 154 articles per month in UK media over the previous seven years, totaling approximately 13,500 articles during that period and from the puberty blocker ban, Supreme court ruling, and EHRC guidance confusion, there has not been a lot of "positive" trans news reporting this year despite this increased prevalence of trans stories in the media. Factors like political rhetoric and public discussion are likely to influence actions and hate crimes against trans people have seen a significant long-term increase over the past five years. While statistics show a rise in recorded crimes, many incidents go unreported, and charities report a high number of victims seeking support. Hate crimes against trans people often involve violence or threats, and tragically this has led to the need for the Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR).
TDoR was founded in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated the one year anniversary of Hester’s death and all the transgender people lost to violence that year. The community have continued to mourn all the trans people lost do suicide and violence each year, and this year will be no different. Official data collated by the Trans Murder Monitoring Project and published by Transgender Europe (TGEU) in early November of each year forms the basis of the TDoR - Trans Lives Matter site so that their names are not forgotten. Please note that this gives information relating to the circumstances of some of the deaths so there are trigger warnings for violence and murder.
But while we mourn as a community, there are things that we can do to make things better for the trans people in our workplaces and communities. One of the best things you can do to support any trans people in your life, or the trans community overall, is to educate yourself about what it means to be transgender; seek out further resources and information. There’s a wealth of content online which will help you to understand how you can be a real ally. As a starting point, we would suggest you check out;
Mermaids - https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/
Gendered Intelligence - https://genderedintelligence.co.uk/
TransActual - https://transactual.org.uk/
The Good Law Project’s current trans campaign - Stop the UK’s attack on trans people | Good Law Project
Above all, remember that everyone, from all walks of life no matter how they choose to identify themselves, is worthy of respect. Here at Out Making Games, we have always been, and will always be, trans inclusive.
For more information, follow any of the links above, get in touch with us at leadership@outmaking.games, or join us over on our Discord - we’d love to hear from you!
Jasmin Fox - Out Making Games
