November 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance in the United States. Leading up to the date, each year between November 13 and 19, people and organizations across the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week.
The purpose of Transgender Awareness Week is to help raise the visibility of transgender people, while also educating the public.
Gillian Branstetter, spokesperson for the National Center for Transgender Equality, explained to CNN that, “Only one in four Americans knows a trans person personally… And even then, it is still important for people who are not transgender themselves to understand who we are and the issues we face and the barriers that are too often put in our way.”
Per CNN, Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Day of Remembrance started with the yet-unsolved murder of Rita Hester in 1998. Hester, a transgender woman living in the Boston area, worked to educate the local community about trans issues. Advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith started the Transgender Day of Remembrance in 1999 to honor Hester’s memory, as well as to honor other victims of transphobic violence.
With these issues and endeavors in mind, ManyVids is contributing to the conversation via a video featuring four transgender models who are active on the platform.
ManyVids wrote:
It’s Transgender Awareness Week and this is a time both for celebrating the beautiful, powerful and resilient trans community and a solemn occasion marking the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20th when we remember the trans lives lost to hate and the progress society still has to make on trans’ rights.
This week’s a time for trans people AND their allies to 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.
ManyVids considers themselves an ally and they’re both aware of, and thankful, ecstatic, and grateful that so many talented and passionate trans and gender non-conforming have chosen the MV platform to build their amazing careers on.
ManyVids wants every day to be a day dedicated to the importance and impact of Trans people on the MV community and society at large…
The video features messages and insights from Janemarie_xo, DominoPresleyXXX, Andylynnpayne and MsJuliaEpiphany.
“You can’t define me,” Janemarie_xo says in the clip. “I define myself.”
View ManyVids #TransIsBeautiful video below.
