Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Highlighting the importance of Trans Awareness Week
Transgender Awareness Week is observed from November 13 – 19, leading up to Trans Day of Remembrance which is marked on Sunday 20 November.
The T within the acronym LGBTQIA+ is important for the whole community as the Trans activists played a crucial part in the emergence and growth of the contemporary LGBTQIA+ rights movement, from the Stonewall uprising of 1969 through to the present.
This year, as well as individual universities and students’ unions offering their own ways of marking this important observance period, Leeds Arts University; Leeds Beckett University; Leeds Conservatoire, and Leeds Trinity are working together on several projects, including, on November 15, an online Trans Awareness workshop. You can book onto it by following the Eventbrite link here.
Why do we need Transgender Awareness Week?
Trans and non-binary people are more likely to be victims of hate crimes including street harassment, employment-based discrimination, sexual assault and murder.
A recent survey by Trans Actual reported that:
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99% of trans people surveyed have experienced transphobia on social media, with 97% witnessing transphobia in digital and print media.
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85% of trans women reported being subjected to transphobic street harassment from strangers, with 71% of trans men and 73% of non-binary people saying the same
The most recent Home Office report on Hate Crime in England and Wales suggested a growth in reported transphobic hate crime of more than 250% over the last five years, with a 56% increase being recorded since 2020/2021.
Research by Priory mental health suggested around 46% of trans people thought about taking their own life in 2021, with more than 90% experiencing some form of abuse – verbal, physical, or emotional.
Trans/transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender falls outside the binary gender they were assigned a birth. Non-binary people also fall under the transgender umbrella, meaning they do not wholly identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, with some non-binary people not identifying with any gender at all.
Trans Day of Remembrance is observed on 20 November, as a day to remember, celebrate and mourn the Trans lives lost, often to violence and suicide.
You can learn about transphobia here.
Dr Ian Lamond
Ian is an events researcher examining the conceptual foundations of event studies. Their research interests intersect cultural studies; sociology; political/social theory, and anthropology. Their work encompasses events of dissent; creativity and protest; events marking the end of life, and events of the 'other'.
