I’ve been trying to find the right words, but I’m leaning into silence. In a time when transgender and gender non-conforming individuals are rapidly losing their right to self-determination (like no longer being able to change sex markers on US passports, for example), I find myself struggling to articulate my frustration and disappointment. Instead of adding to the noise, sometimes the best thing to do is listen. Let’s remember to make room for quiet contemplation in observance of Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Day of Remembrance. Transgender Awareness Week begins on November 13th of every year and is observed until Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20th.
From the GLAAD website:
“Transgender Awareness Week is a week when transgender people and their allies take action to bring attention to the trans community by educating the public about who transgender people are, sharing stories and experiences, and advancing advocacy around issues of prejudice, discrimination, and violence that affect the transgender community.”
“Transgender Day of Remembrance (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. That initial event began the world-wide observance that is the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. People participate in TDOR by attending or organizing a vigil on November 20 to honor all those whose lives were lost to anti-transgender violence that year.”
Too many lives have been lost to ignorance, hate, and bigotry. Though I often feel grateful to live in such a beautifully diverse city as Chicago, I am aware that this is no haven for trans people. Despite the municipal commitment to protecting trans women, the city has also seen a major step backward as area hospitals deny gender affirming care for minors. Issues like these are interconnected. They speak to the larger struggle for self-determination. As we make room for quiet contemplation and lean into silence, I encourage everyone to meditate on the intersections of our struggles. When we lose transgender and gender non-conforming individuals to violence, we must listen to the “why’s” and the “how’s.”
If you’re seeking opportunities to listen to your community, the Poetry Foundation is hosting an event on the evening of November 20th , Grief Transmutes in (Re)Connection. On November 22nd, Trans UpFront IL will be hosting a panel discussion on Remembrance, Resilience, & Resources at the Center on Halsted.
It is important to find ways to show up for the trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people in your lives and communities. Listen to them, support them, and—above everything else—fight for a better world with them. It is important to remember that the successes of the trans community are a shared success for the world; and the losses that the trans community suffers are a shared loss for us all. Our oppression is just as intertwined as our liberation. May we use the silence to hear our way forward.
Outside of AFC, Binx is an activist, organizer, and poet. Their creative work can be found at binxperino.com. A frequent guest editor, reader, and contributor on various literary magazines and journals, Binx currently serves as an assistant editor with Sundress Publications and is the Editor-in-Chief of The Pill Magazine.
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