🌈Trans AwarenessWeek: An Introduction🌈
Transgender Awareness Week is a week when transgender 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 takes place on November 20th every year. It is a day to honor all those whose lives were lost to anti-transgender violence that year. Vigils are typically hosted by local transgender advocates or LGBTQ organizations, and held at community centers, parks, places of worship and other venues. The vigil often involves reading a list of the names of those who died that year.
What is included in this Toolkit?
This Toolkit includes a variety of resources, images, sample social media, and publications to support you in amplifying the voices and experiences of Transgender and Gender Expanive young people during Trans Awareness Week and beyond.
What Transgender Students and Young People are experience at a glance:
- Almost 2% of high school students identify as transgender.
- Transgender youth of color reported recognizing and defining their racial/ethnic and gender identities on their own terms as a source of empowerment and pride.
- The presence of Gender and Sexuality Alliances decreased the prevalence of hostile school experiences for LGBTQ youth.
- Supportive school staff is associated with lower levels of hostile school experiences for LGBTQ youth.
- Students perceived their schools as safer for gender nonconforming male peers in schools that included LGBTQ issues in the curriculum and had a Gender and Sexuality Alliance.
- Students of teachers that reported that their school had more supportive practices had a lower tendency of experiencing homophobic bullying. Supportive practices included “adequate counseling, effective confidential support and referral services for students needing support because of substance abuse, violence, or other [challenges], an emphasis on socio-emotional learning, an environment that fostered youth development, resilience, or asset promotion, and provided conflict resolution or behavior management instruction."
The US Trans Survey — live October 19 — November 21, 2022 — is conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality, the nation's leading social justice advocacy organization winning life-saving change for transgender people, in partnership with the National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, the TransLatin@ Coalition, and the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance. The survey is conducted by a team of well-respected researchers, guided by a prestigious scientific advisory council who are experts in trans research.
You can support this effort by sharing information about the survey. The Trans Survey social media toolkit includes messages, social media posts, graphics, videos and more. Thank you for helping to spread the word.
Please see below for overarching messages related to Trans Awareness Week
Accounts You Can Tag:
PLATFORM | PROJECT |
| |
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM | OPTIONAL TEXT | IMAGE/VIDEO |
Instagram & Facebook | This is #TransAwarenessWeek, and trans youth of DESERVE: ✔️folks that use their pronouns ✔️folks that understand their multiple and intersecting social identities ✔️folks that share our new report on their health outcomes | |
Affirming a trans young person’s pronouns: #TransAwarenessWeek #ProtectTransYouth | ||
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc | This is #TransAwarenessWeek, and trans youth of color DESERVE: ✔️folks that use their pronouns ✔️folks that understand their multiple and intersecting social identities ✔️folks that share our new report on their health outcomes #TransAwarenessWeek #ProtectTransYouth | |
Your sexual health matters. Jasmine shares with us what taking care of her #sexualhealth means to her. #StopHIVTogetherAFY #TransHealthMatters #TransAwarenessWeek | ||
Instagram, Twitter and Facebook | Take charge of your health, Knowing your HIV status is the first step. #StopHIVTogetherAFY #TransHealthMatters #TransAwarenessWeek | |
In the 50th anniversary year of #TitleIX, students continue to experience gender-based discrimination in schools. But trans students are still protected by Title IX, which ensures that they have the right to equal access to educational opportunities, including access to spaces and activities consistent with their gender identity. This #TransAwarenessWeek, swipe to learn more about trans students’ rights under Title IX! #KnowYourIX #LGBTQIA | ||
Say it one more time for the people in the back: LANGUAGE MATTERS! Abortion access for all! (Not just people who fit into your definition of womanhood) Check out this guide to learn more and get some quick tips to make your convos more inclusive! #TransAwarenessWeek #abortionaccess #reprohealth #reprorights #LGBTQIA | ||
Twitter, IG and Facebook | The US Trans Survey is for people with all trans identities, including binary and nonbinary identities. Show the diversity of your experience by taking the 2022 US Trans Survey: https://ustranssurvey.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7OgBLyKfF9wuSncustranssurvey.org |
NOTES
- All of these posts fit in a Tweet, but they can be used on any social media network
- If you post on Instagram, remember that links don’t work, and instead you should update the link in your bio (we strongly suggest LinkTree) and say “take action at the link in my bio).
- Especially for the Equality Act, be sure to include a suggested hashtag in each post.
- Twitter handle: @AdvocatesTweets
- Instagram handle: @AdvocatesForYouth
- If you want to include a URL, it’s best to add the link to your Instagram bio. Encourage your audience to visit the link by adding, “Link in Bio” to the caption of your post.
- Be sure to tag @AdvocatesForYouth in each post
- Posts with 11 or more hashtags perform best on Instagram. Always start with #TransAwarenessWeek unless it’s already in the post. Some hashtags you might consider adding along the bottom are: #school #students #youth #hiv #lgbt #lgbtq #transRights #transrightsarehumanrights #lgbtqyouth #lgbtqrights #queersexed #sexed #sexeducation #sexeducator #safersex #safesex #sexpositive #relationships #sexuality #consent #sexualhealth #reproductivejustice #reproductivehealth #reprorights #middleschool #highschool #puberty #healthequity #racialequity
The Equality Act would make it illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in employment, housing, schools, restaurants, shelters and other public accommodations. (This kind of discrimination is completely legal in more than 30 states right now). And while President-Elect Biden has said the legislation should be trans-inclusive, in 2007 when trying to pass a similar bill, Congress briefly removed protections for transgender people in order to win over some conservatives who were hesitating. If they do that again, that is a red line for us. A version of The Equality Act that only protects folks based on sexual orientation, but not gender identity, is NOT an Equality Act at all. Congress needs to hear that young people around the country would strongly oppose that version of the bill.
Ask your representatives to cosponsor the Equality Act in its current form, with all the protections necessary for transgender folks included. Fill out this form and we'll automatically generate a letter for you to send to your members of Congress! Feel free to edit it and add your own thoughts.
TITLE | DESCRIPTION | URL/LINK |
Amaze: Range of Gender Identities | Everyone has a gender identity—a feeling or sense of being male, female or somewhere in between. Sometimes people’s gender identity matches their bodies, and sometimes it does not. When you share your gender identity with the world through clothing, makeup, how you talk, act and more, this is called “gender expression.” A person’s gender identity and gender expression can be different. | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i83VQIaDlQw&ab_channel=AMAZEOrgAMAZEOrg |
Kikis With Louie:Representation with Mj Rodriguez | Louie joins the the star of #POSEFx, MJ Rodriguez, to discuss the trans erasure at the height of the AIDS crisis and the need for sex ed to be LGBTQ-inclusive. | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPJg2Z3JjB8&ab_channel=AdvocatesforYouth |
Kikis With Louie: Building Community After Pulse | Louie sits down with three Orlando-based LGBTQ activists discussing issues impacting LGBTQ youth of color. | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6brDtonXsI&list=PLIJ8QY62IB8SEzbiWpvcrPkk8BG2oGFL5&index=14 |
Kikis With Louie: Your Guide To Pronouns | In honor of #PrideMonth, make sure you're respecting everyone and using their correct pronouns! In this #HowTo, our pronoun guru, Eli, describes the correct ways to ask for pronouns and how validating using correct pronouns can be for everyone. | |
Kikis With Louie: Jennicet Episode | Louie and Jennicet Gutiérrez kiki about the moment when she challenged Pres. Obama over the detention of Trans immigrants, and the impact it had on her life. | |
Young People & Their Gender Journey: a 15 Minute Panel | There are lots of ways to think about gender. This video speaks with young folks to discuss how they’ve grown to understand their gender, and what they wish they had known throughout their transition, or as we’re calling it their gender journey. | |
Noor’s Transitioning Journey as a Muslim Young Persom | Noor is a member of the Muslim Youth Leadership Council and shares his journey and what he wishes he knew as a transitioning young person. | |
Supporting Trans Youth | Dr. Robert Garofalo, Division Head, Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, shares how to best support trans youth. Here's an excerpt from the conversation. | |
Amaze Family: Supporting Trans Youth | Dr. Robert Garofalo, Division Head, Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, talk about how to best support trans youth. |
Publications by Advocates for Youth Staff and Partners
TITLE | TYPE | LINK |
Creating Safer Spaces for LGBTQ Youth: A Toolkit for Education, Healthcare, and Community-Based Organizations | Toolkit | http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Creating-Safer-Spaces-Toolkit-Nov-13.pdf |
On All Sides: How Race, Ethnicity & Gender Influence Health Risk for Transgender Students of Color | Report | |
Sexual and Dating Violence Among Asian and Pacific Islander (API) American Transgender Youth | Report | Sexual and Dating Violence Among Asian and Pacific Islander (API) American Transgender Youth |
Health Risk Behaviors among Gender Expansive Students Making the Case for Including a Measure of Gender Expression in Population–Based Surveys | Report | http://advocatesforyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/storage//advfy/documents/YRBSS.pdf |
Building Cultural Responsiveness for Youth-Serving Professionals | Toolkit | |
Elliot Page And Why Centering Trans Youth Of Color Is Important | Article | |
Dear Cis Folks, The Work Ain’t Nowhere Near Done | Article | https://www.advocatesforyouth.org/posts/dear-cis-folks-the-work-aint-nowhere-near-done/ |
As A Young, Black, Queer, Transwoman, Here’s Why I Refuse To Be A Second-Class Citizen In The Workplace | Article | |
Sports Participation and Health of Black Transgender Youth | Report | https://www.advocatesforyouth.org/resources/fact-sheets/black-trans-youth-sports/ |
Title IX Protections for LGBTQ Students | Report | https://www.knowyourix.org/college-resources/title-ix-protections-lgbtq-students/ |
Abortion Out Loud: Gender Inclusive Abortion Language Toolkit | ToolKit | https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EjWwdcgCjPUqypwwvMsvoc2WyZ9B7877PnTUtVdwBKg/edit |
GLAAD’s Transgender Day of Remembrnace Resource List | Resource |
TITLE | TYPE | WHERE TO WATCH/ACCESS |
Paris Is Burning (1991) | Documentary | Netflix |
Pariah (2011) | Movie | Hulu |
Blackbird (2014) | Movie | Amazon Prime & ALLBLK |
Tangerine (2015) | Movie | Netflix |
Moonlight (2016) | Movie | Amazon Prime |
The Prom (2021) | Movie | Netflix |
Disclosure (2020) | Documentary | Netflix |
We Are Animals (2018) | Movie | Netflix |
TV Show | HBO Max | |
TV Show | HBO Max | |
TV Show | HBO Max | |
TV Show | HBO Max | |
Documentary | Paramount + | |
TV | Hulu | |
Killing Patient Zero (2019) | Documentary | Tubi, Sundance, Amazon Prime |
Podcast Series | All podcasting platforms | |
Julia Takes A Breath (2016) | Book | |
Black on Both Sides: A Racial History On Trans Identity (2017) | Book | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34850447-black-on-both-sides |
Book | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35068748-the-house-of-impossible-beauties | |
We Are Everywhere (2019) | Book | |
All Boys Aren’t Blue (2019) | Book | |
Legendary Children (2020) | Book | |
I’m A Wild Seed (2021) | Book |