How To Celebrate Trans Voices
Many articles written about trans issues can feel a bit miserable. Every day, news stories about awful things come across our feeds, and it can make being trans in 2022 a little bit scary. But, in addition to shining a light on transphobia, it is now more important than ever to celebrate trans voices and make them heard. So how can we uplift the voices of our trans friends and colleagues?
Pay attention
2021 and 2022 have seen the trans community make some incredible progress. We’ve had the first openly trans person on the cover of TIME Magazine, the first trans performer to be nominated for an Emmy award, and the first openly trans MP in UK Parliament.
This year is a great time to listen to those voices. You could seek out a film or a miniseries with great trans representation, listen to trans musicians or read novels, poems or short stories by trans authors. Some great examples are Akwaeke Imezi, Rivers Solomon, Kae Tempest, Mae Martin, Bethany Black and Laura Jane Grace.
Show your support
When celebrating trans voices, it is important to think about allyship. There are many small, everyday things you can do to show your support for trans friends and colleagues. For example, with technology playing a bigger role than ever in our day-to-day lives, putting your pronouns in your display name on video conferencing platforms, email signature or social media bios helps normalise trans people doing the same thing.
There are many more physical ways you can show your support for trans rights, such as wearing a trans flag pin on your lapel or lanyard. However, by far the most meaningful way to be a trans ally is educating people. For example, if you hear someone saying something transphobic, whether intentional or not, it’s important to call it out and challenge their behaviour. It is the job of each and every one of us to speak out against transphobia wherever we see it.
Educate yourself
There are plenty of resources out there to educate yourself on the lived experience of trans people. The internet gives everyone easy access to information so have a look on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for some trans-run educational accounts. If you feel your organisation needs some help or guidance, get in touch with us! Your D+I’s trans and LGBT+ workshops are a great introduction on how to make your workplace welcoming to trans people.
Combatting transphobia is massively important, and the role of our allies is to make sure dealing with it is not left entirely up to us. Celebrating our voices is one of the most important ways to do this, so please take some ideas from this post and help make your trans friends heard.
