International Transgender Day of Visibility

Yesterday, March 31, 2015 was International Transgender Day of Visibility. I showed my support by reblogging lots of selfies on Tumblr and encouraging others to do the same. This day brought a lot of attention to the recent suicides of transgender teens Leelah Alcorn and Blake Brockington. I wanted to use this day as an opportunity to share information with you on the deaths of Leelah and Blake and to also talk about the positive happenings on International Transgender Day of Visibility. Rookie provides some information on the life and death of Blake through this piece and they talk about Leelah in this one.

 

 

Also, I have watched the video below like, five times and every time it has made me smile. This little boy, Alex wrote this rap about being transgender with the help of his mom and it is so adorable.

While we're on the subject of music I'm going to take this opportunity to talk about one of the coolest musical characters, Angel Dumott Schunard from Rent. She's breaking the gender binary and through the whole musical, until she dies, she brings love, and sass to the cast. Her character glues the main group of friends that the musical focuses on together.

"Today 4 U" from Rent 

I didn't know much about the transgender and non-binary communities until I started using the Internet more and it amazes me how much hate they have to deal with. I'm so glad that things like Transgender Day of Visibility exist because it's so important to show trans people that they are valued and they can get out of bad situations and that things will get better for them. It's crucial to acknowledge the deaths of people like Blake and Leelah because they happen more often than we think. Cisgender people (people who identify with the gender they are born with) have to help. We can start by simply educating ourselves and doing small things like using the correct pronouns when addressing or talking about a trans person. I hope that International Transgender Day of Visibility will continue to be prominent in the media and on the Internet and that things will only get better for the trans community. 

Sources for this article:

rookiemag.com

tumblr.com

youtube.com

rent.wikia.com