TRANS AWARENESS MONTH
November is Trans Awareness Month and Nov. 20th is Transgender Day of Remembrance.
On these days where we remember and honor those who have come before us, we pause to acknowledge how far their lives have taken ours. Especially at a time when their very existence was discouraged and denied. We honor their legacy by recognizing all the services and access and language and visibility that we enjoy today as beautiful gifts they have given us. May we honor the privileges we enjoy of being and becoming who we are even as we face forces that continue in vain to try and dim and extinguish our beautiful and eternal light.
brief HISTORY
Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1999 by a small group, including Gwendolyn Ann Smith, Nancy Nangeroni, and Jahaira DeAlto, to memorialize the murders of Black transgender women Rita Hester in Allston, Massachusetts, and Chanelle Pickett in Watertown, Massachusetts.
Remembering Rita Hester and Chanelle Pickett
VIA Transremembrance.org: What began a quarter century ago continues today. Activists and organizations around the world work collectively and independently to honor and remember our dead. We share names and stories, talk to loved ones, scour news and police reports, and build networks in our communities. Still, the work is never done, and the list is never complete.
Black trans women are more than the victims of anti-trans violence; they have always been at the forefront of the movement – building community, advocating for policy change, and organizing to protect our rights. Read more here.
90’ TRANSITIONING TBT
A note from Sam, EVERYBODY Co-Founder: In 1998 I remember standing in a line and then sitting in a row of chairs for up to five hours or more to be seen in a clinic on “Transgender Tuesdays” at the Tom Waddell Clinic in San Francisco. This room was a sanctuary for people like me seeking care that was not yet available anywhere else.
I remember how it felt like such a gift that the only cost was the endless wait. This was only made bearable by the gorgeous array of people in the room. Everyone shared their beauty tips and pointers for how to pass, where to get surgery and who to avoid. The jokes were nonstop, the comments searing and riotous. The stories were heartbreaking and hilarious in equal turn. The range of lived experiences in the room was vast and there were huge chasms of privilege between so many of us and yet there we were together, all in desperate need of the same free services the City of San Francisco was openly providing us. What a time to live through. I’m so grateful for this experience.
‘Transgender Tuesdays’ highlights the personal stories from and services provided to the Trans Community during the 1990’s at the Tom Waddell Clinic in San Francisco.
Today I want to honor those people who shared that room with me, 25 years ago as I know so many of them are no longer with us. We have lost too many of our elders far before we should have. Too many have been victims of mental illness and forces of violence beyond their control. And some of us live on, still fighting, still pushing forward and insisting on a more inclusive world. Sabel Simone Loreca (pictured below) was there with me in that room then, and I’m so grateful to still share space with my beautiful sister today.
Thank you to Trans Advocate, Activist, and EVERYBODY Personal Trainer Sabel Samone Loreca for continuing to build and fight for safer communities, access to gender affirming health care, and resources for our Transgender community since the ‘The Bad Old Days’ of the early 90’s . Please follow Minority Aids Project and G.L.A.M.O.R. MAP for more.
TRANS AWARENESS MONTH & BEYOND
We are Trans and Woman owned and actively hire within the wide spectrum of our Queer and Trans communities. We are currently connecting with local orgs in ‘Red States’ to offer free online programming to Trans youth in need while locally continuing our sponsorship program for Trans folks at the Gym. We will also continue to support LGBTQ founded and focused orgs including Pink Haven Coalition: community defense, mutual-aid, and alternative systems of care for gender diverse people, Border Butterflies Project: an arm of the Trans Law Center assisting LGBTQ+ asylum seekers at the U.S. Border, and Miry’s List: assisting new arrival refugee families.
When we first opened our doors in 2017, we faced similar circumstances to the ones we find ourselves in today- a government taking power that openly opposes and blocks access to care for so many in our marginalized communities that are in struggle and need: the trans community, the immigrant community, BIPOC folks, disabled folks, survivors of sexual abuse, the elderly, the list goes on...
We will continue to show up for all our communities in need, to provide safe harbor and access to resources for hope, strength and resilience. We will continue to offer opportunities for our community to explore and expand relationships with our own bodies as sacred, inspired, whole, and a source of connection to all beings everywhere. May our movement practices deepen our compassion for ourselves, for each other, and provide a gateway to our own refuge and recovery.
May we continue to shine for our ancestors, transcestors and for each other, always.🏳️⚧️