Trans Folks Deserve Better
Transgender Awareness Week has begun, and it's needed now more than ever.
Transgender men, women, & non-binary folks are not new. Our existence is not a fad, nor a contagion, nor a conspiracy. We are not the shadowed predators nor the scheming tricksters of hateful imaginations. We are, above all, human—just like our cisgendered counterparts.
The deluge of anti-trans rhetoric, online and offline, has been relentless in 2025. There is always some form of anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry to contend with, but when such bigotry is enabled by federal policies, disinformation campaigns, and misinformed talking heads, the stream becomes a river becomes a flood. With that flood, countless protections for trans people have been washed away: the dwindling access to life-saving & gender-affirming care for trans youth; the inhumane & cruel ousting of active duty transgender service members from the armed forces; punitive bathroom bans; discrimination towards trans & non-binary U.S. passport holders; prohibiting trans youth from participating in athletics according to their gender identity; erosion of rights and protections for currently incarcerated trans people; allowing transphobic bullying of public school students; eliminating education on trans and gender diverse people (as well as BIPOC history); and a dizzying number of other examples of the violation and degradation of transgender Americans' rights.
November 13th is the first day of Transgender Awareness Week, which culminates in the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20th. This time of raised awareness, education, and community is sorely needed.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is a solemn one: it is a time for our communities to honor victims of anti-trans violence. It began in 1999 by transgender rights advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith when she organized a vigil to honor Rita Hester, a trans woman who was killed in Boston, MA in 1998. (Her murder remains unsolved, which is a systemic problem across the country with homicides involving trans victims being solved at a rate that's ~15% less compared to homicides of cis victims.)
“Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people — sometimes in the most brutal ways possible — it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice.”
– Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith
Trans people—especially trans people of color like Miss Hester—are at a greater risk of violence compared to the general cis population. (Anywhere from 2.5X greater risk of violence for any trans person, and upwards of 4X more likely to be a victim of violence for trans women of color.)
The rise in anti-trans legislation and hate has increased the frequency of hate crimes and violence enacted against our trans siblings. Our LGBTQIA+ youth find their quality of mental health deteriorating rapidly as resources are taken from them, such as the cowardly decision by Fenway Health to cease gender-affirming care for any trans person under the age of 19. (Yes, that does mean they are also removing such care for legal adults aged 18.)
Transgender people just want to live their lives safely without fear of violence for being who they are. This Transgender Awareness Week, may we fight dehumanization with stories, with care, and with steadfast compassion.
For folks local to the Greater Lowell area, a Trans Day of Remembrance vigil will be hosted in Chelmsford at the Chelmsford Center for the Arts on Saturday, November 15th at 6PM. It's a time to honor our dead, mourn them with love, and reinvigorate the need to fight like hell for the living.
It is not just external violence that takes the lives of trans people, though. As we've reported back in September, the suicide rate for trans people is devastatingly high. Anti-trans rhetoric, hate-fueled legislation, & openly tolerated transphobia all combine into a society that is violent in its disdain for any gender diverse person. When a trans person takes their own life, it is due to this pervasive, everyday violence they're forced to endure.
Given that we recently observed Veteran's Day in the U.S. on the 11th, we'd also like to take time during this year's Transgender Awareness Week to highlight the service of transgender veterans and the cruel, discriminatory removal of active duty trans members of the armed forces.
"At a time when transgender people are banned from serving in the U.S. military, four transgender troops risking discharge fight to attain the freedom they so fiercely protect. 2018 SXSW Audience Award Winner, Best Documentary." (IMDb)
The VA recently pulled any gender-affirming care for our veterans in need of such healthcare. This measure will ultimately save the VA mere pennies-per-veteran while endangering the lives of those who have honorably served that require proper healthcare to treat gender dysphoria. When veterans already face higher suicide rates compared to the general population, what message does it send to our trans veterans that their identity and life are not just "invalid" in the eyes of the U.S. government, but worthy of open contempt?
Transgender service-members have attained their ranks and positions with the same hard work and dedication as their cis comrades-in-arms. Despite the fact they have served honorably, their loyalty was rewarded with bigotry, cowardice, and discrimination from the very military they had dedicated their lives to.
#FightTheBan & Stand with our Transgender Veterans and Service-members in the Armed Forces
KONSTANTIN TOROPIN
Rainbow Dracuteers stands firm in our demand for justice for our transgender veterans, as well as those active-duty trans service-members who now are being forced to make difficult and at times degrading decisions for the sake of their careers and their health. What matters is the integrity of one's service, not the sex one was assigned at birth nor the gender one lives as today. People of any sex and any gender are capable of serving honorably!
For U.S. transgender military service-members, we recommend looking into organizations like SPARTA Pride to get the information and support you deserve:
SPARTA Pride is a group of transgender people who currently serve or have served in the military. SPARTA Pride is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization not affiliated with the Department of Defense. Membership is open to transgender (to include non-binary and gender-nonconforming) individuals currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. We also offer smaller groups for families of transgender service members, veterans, and allies. For more information, checkout their online resources HERE.
Be loud with you support for trans folks.
Whether that's being loud for our transgender military members who are enduring an unprecedented crackdown on their very right to serve authentically, or our trans youth just wanting to play school sports with friends, or our families fighting for the right to get their gender diverse children the proper, evidence-based healthcare that they deserve--BE LOUD!
Transgender & non-binary people deserve better.
Be someone who makes this world lovelier, not uglier. 🩷🤍💙
For peer-support, phone, or chat services, gender diverse folks young & old are welcome to call Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860; text THRIVE to 313-662-8209 to chat with someone via SMS text; or visit the LGBT National Help Center online chat to communicate with someone over the web. These resources are available for support beyond crisis. If you're feeling down, need a little help, or just want someone to talk to about LGBT+ stuff, these contacts welcome you.
