Today November 20, 2020 is the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). TDOR is an annual observance where we honour lives of transgender and nonbinary people who were murdered over the last year as a result of transphobia and transphobic violence.
- In the past 12 months, 350 trans and gender-diverse people were reported killed globally.
- From January 2008 to September 2020, 3,664 trans and gender-diverse people were reported killed in 75 countries worldwide.
As newcomers, you may not have enough knowledge about gender identity, transgender people and nonbinary people. In today’s article, let’s learn about them!
Gender Identity vs Sex
- Gender identity is a person’s internal sense of being male, female or something else.
- Sex is assigned at birth, referring to a person’s biological status and physical attributes as either male or female.
What does transgender mean?
- When we say a person is “transgender”, the person’s gender identity is different from the person’s birth sex.
- For instance, a person was born as a male, but may have the internal sense of being a female, and may choose to communicate gender identity to others through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, voice or body characteristics, etc.
- “Trans” is sometimes used as shorthand for “transgender.”
Learn about Gender-Neutral / Nonbinary Pronouns here: https://settlementcalgary.com/2020/08/04/gender-neutral-nonbinary-pronouns/
Other resources you may want to explore on your own:
- Multilingual infographics can be found here: https://tgeu.org/tdor/
- Calgary Pride has compiled a list of support resources
- Calgary Pride runs a Learning Series to educate people about the LGBTQ2S+ communities, Check out the latest sessions here: https://www.calgarypride.ca/learning-series/ .
Word of the Day:
Transphobia: a range of negative attitudes, feelings or actions towards transgender people. As a result of transphobia, transgender people may experience harassment or discrimination.
References:
https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/transgender
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/gender-identity/transgender/whats-transphobia
