Transgender Health and Wellness Center will host two events in November f

Each year between November 13–19, people and organizations around the country, including right here in the Coachella Valley, participate in Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility of transgender people and address issues members of the community face.

The week before Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, people and organizations around the country participate in Awareness Week to help raise the visibility of trans people and address issues the community faces.

This year, advocates say they have a lot to celebrate. In September, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released a new rule to ensure equal access to shelter programs in accordance with an individual’s gender identity. The rule also ensures that trans and gender expansive individuals are not subjected to harassment, unnecessary questioning, or required to provide documentation of their gender, and provides clarity to the definition of “gender identity” to better reflect the difference between actual and perceived gender identity.

“As we work to end LGBT youth homelessness, it’s crucial that we celebrate our successes along the way. And this success wouldn’t have been possible without the work of transgender activists young and old across the country,” writes Nick Seip, senior communications officer for True Colors United.

Transgender Awareness Week is a week when trans people and their allies take action to bring attention to the community by educating the public about who transgender people are, sharing stories and experiences, and advancing advocacy around the issues of prejudice, discrimination, and violence that affect the transgender community.

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), is an annual observance on November 20 that honors the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence that year.

The Cathedral City-based Transgender Health and Wellness Center will hold two events to commemorate the week.

The first event will be the release of data collected on the Transgender, Gender Non Conforming and Intersex (TGI) Communities needs. This data was collected during Covid 19.  We surveyed over 100 TGI people from middle school to senior years.  Dr. Annie Hochenauer and Dr. Riley Yi will be presenting the data.

The second is a virtual panel to learn about the needs and life experiences of trans people of color.

Please click on the link if you would like to attend.

Image Sources

  • Transgender: Shutterstock