transgender day of visibility - #stayvisible2019

“I teach this workshop with queer and trans first generation or South Asian immigrants. I believe that in doing deep reflective work, we as queer and trans people find more freedom. And in these workshops, I'm basically asking: “What of the easy way through this creative process is actually you trying to mask your pain caused by internalized phobias?” lt seems to be the rock that cracks glass. There's no limit for unlearning.

As a comic, rapper, poet, and actor in projects like Mr. Robot and Sense8, D'Lo is a queer transgender Tamil Sri Lankan-American whose aim is to "create meaning in everything I do".

I’m creating a celebratory archive of creating visibility for some of our community’s most famous influencers (ie: the creator of the Transgender Day of Visibility, the creator of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, two-spirits, inventors, and Academy Award performers). Please, please join along! Feel free to join the conversation, or just add #stayvisible2019 to your trans day of visibility post!

41% of transgender people have attempted suicide. 47% of trans youth have thought about suicide and 19% have attempted. In 32 states, transgender individuals can still be fired or denied employment for their identity. 26% of transgender people have lost their job because of their identity. According to USA Today, 2018 was the worst year for deadly assaults against transgender Americans than in any other year recorded.

Many are shot. Many are stabbed. Some have had their houses burned down while they were inside.

According to Haaretz, the number of trans people reported murdered each year by TMM has risen steadily, from 148 in 2008 to 358 in 2018.

The first murder this year was January 10th.

***

Here’s a secret. As someone who is white and went to Catholic school (and is a Gemini, ha!), I knew I could hold my own in conversation with the bigot (who came to campus 3 months ago, to the most trafficked place on campus) and could feign politeness. I despised every second of it; I was afraid for every second of it. With a 100% understanding that this was a fruitless effort, I just wanted so desperately to understand the lies transphobes tell themselves and the point of view that threatens the lives of millions.

After three hours, my lips were blue. My friend was tugging me away, so I went up to him and I said:

“I am leaving but I’ve got to tell you something. I am trans. If I live a devout life, following the Ten Commandments, reading the Bible, going to church every Sunday, working for charities, and living my life to the loving service of others, and I get to the Gates of Heaven, and I repent everything but my gender identity, am I going to go to hell?”

He just nonchalantly said, “You could.”

So I kept asking. I repeated the whole thing over and over. By the fifth time, I got the response I was looking for.

“If I repent everything but my gender identity, am I going to go to hell?”

“You could. I don't know - I could go to hell.”

“Exactly. You get it. Go home.”

***

A letter to the people I love, and the people I wish I had the chance to,

I learned what “transgender” and “non-binary” meant on the internet when I was thirteen. Pretty much all the resources I've ever had were compiled by some (very competent, mind you) 16-to-18-year-olds. There were no other resources than Tumblr and some WordPress blogs. The first time I participated in my own community was in the mourning of Leelah Alcorn, who ended her life on December 28, 2014. I was 14 years old.

StayVisible has been created as something tangible for trans youth to say, “Look! Here are people who have lived, survived, and thrived who are like us. Who are us.” What I didn’t realize was that I, too, needed that reassurance.

In retrospect, this project has been so very tethered to my heart is because that protest on December 10th 2018 woke me up.

I came to UBC because I thought it was the best place to be myself. I'm from a small town in Southern Alberta and just… realizing that I fought to be here and that I need to do that again broke my heart. But I saw people who were close to me and people I barely knew feeling scared and unsafe so I basically ran to the protest and was the first one there: “Okay, let's start a counter protest, let’s make those kids feel safe!”

And then people weren't showing up. “Oh, I've got class, I can't come.” These people are threatening my life, and you are my friends.

He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was on our campus. The director of the largest anti-LGBT organization was on our campus. A man who became a nurse to be an anti-abortion activist in hospitals was on our campus. A man who had the most interveners in a court case in the history of this country was on our campus. A man who has been sued millions and millions of dollars for infiltrating the Toronto Pride Parade and handing out anti-LGBT propaganda was on our campus. And you had no idea.

There’s a reason it’s an “activist.” It’s an active responsibility. It’s not easy. Unlearning is also not easy. But I had to do it, this whole community had to do it. You misgender me - I’ve misgendered myself, too. But I practised. And it’s easier than you think. But you have to think about it more than just when trans people are with you.

We are asking for help. Inaction kills.

And for people who ask, who I brush off… of course, I am afraid. I am afraid and I do it anyway. There are people in my vicinity at all times who want to murder me and I don’t know who they are, and I’m making myself a target. But I will not say I am scared, and I am angry, and I am in deep, deep mourning, because don’t you dare pity me. Don’t you dare let these stories die.

—Scout Wasdell

“I teach this workshop with queer and trans first generation or South Asian immigrants. I believe that in doing deep reflective work, we as queer and trans people find more freedom. And in these workshops, I'm basically asking: “What of the easy way through this creative process is actually you trying to mask your pain caused by internalized phobias?” lt seems to be the rock that cracks glass. There's no limit for unlearning.

As a comic, rapper, poet, and actor in projects like Mr. Robot and Sense8, D'Lo is a queer transgender Tamil Sri Lankan-American whose aim is to "create meaning in everything I do".

I’m creating a celebratory archive of creating visibility for some of our community’s most famous influencers (ie: the creator of TDOV, the creator of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, two-spirits, inventors, and Academy Award performers). Please, please join along! Feel free to join the conversation, or just add #stayvisible2019 to your trans day of visibility post!

“I thank [the transphobia I’ve encountered on my reserve] for opening my eyes to the impact of colonization; to the work that needs to be done; to the healing and the change that needs to happen across the board. [Non-indigenous] folks need to acknowledge the hurt and generational trauma that has been placed upon us.

Jack Saddleback is a Cree two-spirit transgender gay man from the Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis, Alberta. Growing up as a genderqueer child, he faced bullying and discrimination at school and in his community. Jack works within student governance to promote mental health among undergrad students. Along with mental health activism, he advocates for gender and sexual diversity issues, two-spirit issues, and HIV & AIDS.

I’m creating a celebratory archive of creating visibility for some of our community’s most famous influencers (ie: trans actors from Sense8, the creator of TDOV, the creator of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, two-spirits, inventors, and Academy Award performers). Please, please join along! Feel free to join the conversation, or just add #stayvisible2019 to your trans day of visibility post!

“I was almost killed in 2014. He used a snowboard as a weapon and broke my helmet doing it; it was in front of my children. That happened on the middle of the green line of Cypress Ski Hills. People skied by while this man was assaulting me. Some people stopped, maybe a hundred meters down the slope at one point - this altercation lasted maybe three or four minutes. Half a dozen people skied past. Three or four people sat and watched from far away.”

Morgane Oger was the target of the anti-transgender rally outside of AMS of UBC’s Nest on December 10th 2018. She is also an MLA for the NDP party in Vancouver, Canada.

I’m creating a celebratory archive of creating visibility for some of our community’s most famous influencers (ie: trans actors from Sense8, the creator of TDOV, the creator of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, two-spirits, inventors, and Academy Award performers). Please, please join along! Feel free to join the conversation, or just add #stayvisible2019 to your trans day of visibility post!

“[As the most successful transgender CEO in the world], success to me is making other people happy in their life.”

This is the top-earning CEO in the biopharmaceutical industry, and is developing technology for immortality and invented the satellite radio. And more?

Martine Rothblatt graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a combined law and MBA degree in 1981, then began to work in Washington, D.C., first in the field of communications satellite law, and eventually in life sciences projects like the Human Genome Project. In 1994, motivated by her daughter being diagnosed with life-threatening pulmonary hypertension, Martine began studying for a Ph.D. in medical ethics and entered the world of the life sciences by first creating the PPH Cure Foundation and later by founding a medical biotechnology company (United Therapeutics, 1996); she is the Chairwoman of the Board of United Therapeutics. She is also the CEO of GeoStar and the creator of SiriusXM Satellite Radio. Forbes Magazine recognizes her as the top-earning CEO in the biopharmaceutical industry in 2018.

I’m creating a celebratory archive of creating visibility for some of our community’s most famous influencers (ie: trans actors from Sense8, the creator of TDOV, the creator of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, two-spirits, inventors, and Academy Award performers). Please, please join along! Feel free to join the conversation, or just add #stayvisible2019 to your trans day of visibility post!

Rachel created the Transgender Day of Visibility.

“I created the very first transgender helpline almost 20 years ago. I've had conversations on that that really break my heart. People who don't want to be homeless. People who want to find lodgings. In so many places there's only lodging for trans youth and I have to tell people, "I'm sorry, I'm not aware of any."

“I've had people realize while talking to me that the only option is to be homeless.”

You do not have to have an easy life to have a wonderful life. Speaking with Rachel was speaking with the creator of the Transgender Day of Visibility itself. Rachel stayed in the closet for 38 years before coming out and was abandoned by her parents and wife. She has more wisdom than I think I’ll ever be able to comprehend.

I’m creating a celebratory archive of creating visibility for some of our community’s most famous influencers (ie: trans actors from Sense8, the creator of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, two-spirits, inventors, and Academy Award performers). Please, please join along! Feel free to join the conversation, or just add #stayvisible2019 to your trans day of visibility post!

Gwendolyn created the Transgender Day of Remembrance. 

“[Rita Hester’s murderer] picked her up at a bar that was known for its trans clientele. He even made reference to her being the most attractive trans person that he had ever met. The next day, after she was killed, he said, “I didn’t realize she was trans,” and he got away with it.”

Speaking with her was like speaking with transgender history itself.

I’m creating a celebratory archive of creating visibility for some of our community’s most famous influencers (ie: trans actors from Sense8, the creator of TDOV, two-spirits, inventors, and Academy Award performers). Please, please join along! Feel free to join the conversation, or just add #stayvisible2019 to your trans day of visibility post!

“I was the first trans woman to take the stage of the Oscars along with Janet Mock and Daniela Vega, who was the first transgender woman to ever present at the Oscars.” - Cassandra James 

I’m creating a celebratory archive of creating visibility for some of our community’s most famous influencers (ie: trans actors from Sense8, the creator of TDOV, the creator of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, two-spirits, and inventors). Please, please join along! Feel free to join the conversation, or just add #stayvisible2019 to your trans day of visibility post!

As a comic, rapper, poet, and actor in projects likeMr. Robot and Sense8, D'Lo is a queer transgender Tamil Sri Lankan-American whose aim is to "create meaning in everything I do". *** “What I have seen is that performance poetry/spoken word offers a place for queer people to be unapologetic and free in sharing their stories. With next to nothing in regards to resources, one can work on their craft by simply first writing & performing, then honing & polishing. The spoken word scene is about community and witnessing story through artistic encouragement and standards in crafting." *** "One of the most rewarding things for me in travelling to India and Sri Lanka, is to be able to connect with folks who are queer/trans & Tamil, who use community-based art as a form of activism. “Creativity to Queer people is vital for our survival. Artists who identify with being cis/straight/binary have had the luxury to not have survival be something that they’re constantly thinking about or sharing about. This is why I think that radical queers make the most compelling art; most everything we create is intentional for our collective, queer or not, survival. “The truth is that everybody needs - for our mental health - to be creatively engaged. I always ask people to make art a regular practice - not an everyday one - but a regular practice; to intentionally carve out time to express creatively and artistically. If we’re choosing to stay on this planet, let’s connect: connect to ourselves, connect to other people. Art is the best way to do that.” *** “When I think about body image struggles for queer people, I get sad that certain queer/trans folks insist on glorifying cis-passing bodies versus glorifying the fabulous feeling of being in the body that they are in at the moment. When you have a lot of messaging from queer/trans people saying, "Well, if you do this or if you have the money to do this, then you, too, can be beautiful and then you, too, can be happy and live a fabulous life!" it's not only bad for any queer that is struggling with body image or struggling period, it's bad on a global/international level because all things from the west gets exported to other countries - that's us participating in imperialist standards of beauty. “Somebody whose outward appearance does not abide by the beauty standards that are out there is gonna have a hard time trying to love themselves in a world that keeps calling them ugly. “I teach this workshop with queer and trans first generation or South Asian immigrants. I believe that in doing deep reflective work, we as queer and trans people find more freedom. And in these workshops, I'm basically asking: “What of the easy way through this creative process is actually you trying to mask your pain caused by internalized phobias?” lt seems to be the rock that cracks glass. There's no limit for unlearning. “Some of the things I want young queer people to know is to be gentle with themselves and to make this a practice, to rely on others and also make yourself reliable, and be in the practice of that." -D'Lo Follow D'Lo on Instagram for upcoming projects and queer love: @dlocokid

“Ryland has really just thrived as a boy … I didn’t really know that a lot of trans people have known since they were children … I look back and I can’t imagine not listening - he’s had such an amazing life so far and I don’t know if it would be like that if we didn’t allow him to be Ryland.”

Ryland was 4 years old when he came out to his mom as trans. She went viral for accepting his transition - Ryland is now 11 and thriving. 

This interview honestly had us both crying on the phone. 

I’m creating a celebratory archive of creating visibility for some of our community’s most famous influencers (ie: trans actors from Sense8, the creator of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, two-spirits, inventors, and Academy Award performers). Please, please join along! Feel free to join the conversation, or just add #stayvisible2019 to your trans day of visibility post!

I hope all of you who are celebrating the transgender day of visibility check it out - I have 8 other interviews as well 

MARSHA P JOHNSON & SYLVIA RIVERA

I’m creating a celebratory archive of creating visibility for some of our community’s most famous influencers.

Some of the influencers to be interviewed include trans actors (Sense8), transgender elders (creator of TDOV, creator of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, etc.), Cassandra James - the first trans woman to ever be on stage at the Oscars. Hillary Whittington - a mother whose child came out at the age of four and has transitioned, as well as two-spirit identities, and CEOs. I would love to pass these stories along to people in general (I welcome you to like or share it yourself, to people both in the community, those who need to be informed or celebratory about transgender identities)

I endeavour to highlight transgender 1. past (sharing the tragic erasure of transgender creation of modern gay rights movements), 2. present (current transgender leaders, role models, visible in the mainstream, as well as rich resources for transfolk), and 3. future (stories of growing organizations, trans youth, and progress happening right now in the trans community).

Martine Rothblatt graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with a combined law and MBA degree in 1981, then began to work in Washington, D.C., first in the field of communications satellite law, and eventually in life sciences projects like the Human Genome Project. In 1994, motivated by her daughter being diagnosed with life-threatening pulmonary hypertension, Martine began studying for a Ph.D. in medical ethics and entered the world of the life sciences by first creating the PPH Cure Foundation and later by founding a medical biotechnology company (United Therapeutics, 1996); she is the Chairwoman of the Board of United Therapeutics. She is also the CEO of GeoStar and the creator of SiriusXM Satellite Radio. Forbes Magazine recognizes her as the top-earning CEO in the biopharmaceutical industry in 2018. * “[Being transgender affected my college experience and] made it harder because of transphobia being present. “[The systems that helped me get to where I am today - I made many of them myself.] I decided to be out and open about myself. I got the idea from Sandy Stone of UT Austin, [who works with the Center for Women's & Gender Studies].” * “[The advice I have for companies and corporations on how to best set a transgender employee up for success?] Just respect them in their expressed gender. “[My advice for transgender university students entering business is to] be out and open. Yes, I did worry [that transphobia would affect the success of my businesses], but there are many things that can affect the success of a business. People are less queerphobic now than [40 years ago]. It is not [just] about the policies so much as it is about the attitudes. “[As the most successful transgender CEO in the world], success to me is making other people happy in their life.” * “[My biotechnology has found a way to help transgender people in transition] because some transgender people also have the illnesses our medicine treats. “[I want university youth to know that] we can travel into the future by creating mindfiles and uploading life to the cloud. [As for being “uploaded” to be as common as a credit card,] according to Ray Kurzweil, one of the smartest people alive, we will get to that level of technology democraticization circa 2045.” -Martine Rothblatt

Follow this blog for more interviews with significant and famous members of the transgender community!