There are so many special awareness days and weeks throughout the year that media can’t cover them all.
A newsfeed diet full of stories about, say, Dictionary Day (Oct. 16), World Kindness Day (Nov. 13), or Canada’s Agriculture Day (Feb. 23) would become as predictable and boring as Meatloaf Monday.
But some special occasions demand our attention because they point to an injustice we have yet to address or to an under-celebrated community.
This year we collectively marked the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, for example, and International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31 alerts us to the toxic drug supply public health emergency.
This week is Transgender Awareness Week, which is dedicated to increasing the visibility and awareness of the transgender community.
Squamish has great local resources for those of us seeking to understand and support all residents of our town.
Pride Squamish is always a great organization to connect with, and online there’s Egale, which has lots of resources for 2SLGBTQI people and allies.
According to Stats Can, at least 75,000 people in Canada identify as being transgender — having a different gender than what they were assigned at birth.
Transgender folks are more likely to experience violence and also more likely to experience inappropriate behaviours in public, online and at work than cisgender Canadians, according to the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS).
They are also more likely to have seriously contemplated suicide in their lifetimes.
Saturday, Nov. 20 is the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) to honour and recognize trans, two-spirit and non-binary people who were killed due to transphobic violence.
The annual Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide (TvT) report released annually at this time, states that 2021 is on track to be the deadliest year for trans and gender-diverse people with 375 registered murders between Oct. 1 2020 and Sept. 30, 2021. That is up 7% from last year.
The violence faced is likely far worse than numbers can reflect because it goes under-reported and under-acknowledged.
Thus, this week and this day matter.
But despite the challenges, as anyone with a loved one who is living authentically knows, there is also joy.
Skylar Genaille, 30, who identifies as Two-Spirit, explains this best:
“I continue to [trans]ition into the person I physically most feel comfortable being. Embracing Skylar saved my life — being authentic and accepting that creator made me who I am. I think it’s important to remember this week, and every week, people like us existed in many cultures,” they told the Squamish Chief. “It was colonialism and westernization that changed that way of life. When I finally understood all that I was feeling and I was ready to be me — as myself — my life changed drastically. I have accomplished so much, but I have also been able to feel happy and proud along the way.”
We all deserve that.
