Happy Trans Day of Visibility, Emerson!

The following is reposted from the Social Justice Collaborative:

Dear Emerson Community Members,

Today we honor Trans Day of Visibility, an opportunity to celebrate the beauty, talents, and contributions of trans members of our Emerson community, and the trans community worldwide.

We celebrate the trans politicians being elected to office; the trans writers publishing new books; the trans artists increasing representation in the media. We celebrate the trans activists pushing back against transphobic systems. We celebrate recent rulings and laws that increase protections of trans peoples’ civil rights.

Yet, even in the midst of our celebration of trans beauty and joy, we cannot gloss over the virulent legislative attack against trans people and the repugnant rhetoric at this year’s CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) that dehumanized trans people and threatened trans rights.  

We all deserve to be who we are, and to feel safe in our identities and our communities. For this to be true, we as an Emerson community must educate ourselves and be in solidarity with the trans community.

In joy and solidarity, 
Social Justice Collaborative (SJC)

Additional Resources and Places to Learn

• If you identify as trans and would like to explore leadership development, consider the Trans Leadership Academy. 
• If you want to read more about increasing trans inclusion in the workplace, read this article from Harvard Business Review or this toolkit from Out & Equal, or the Human Rights Campaign.
• If you want to learn more about the role of trans people in the gay liberation movement, read this article about the work of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera with STAR.
• If you want to help protect the human rights of trans people, consider donating  to trans organizations for material support and legislative advocacy such as the Network LaRed, the Transgender Emergency Fund of Massachusetts, Black and Pink, TransCanWork, the Trans Women of Color Collective, or the National Center for Transgender Equality.