TRANSGENDER Awareness Week is set to take place from Sunday, November 13, to Saturday, November 19, followed by Transgender Day of Remembrance on Sunday, November 20.
The week celebrates transgender people and raises awareness of the community and issues affecting it, while Transgender Day of Remembrance honours the memory of trans lives which were lost as a result of hatred and violence.
This year, Reading Pride is marking TDoR on Sunday, November 20, by holding a vigil, with a range of speakers to talk on issues facing trans people and contributors from charities, media organisations, local government, and advocacy groups.
It will be hosted by Christina Dearlove, co-founder of Reading Pride’s MyUmbrella LGBTQ+ volunteer project.
The mayor of Reading, Cllr Rachel Eden, will follow with an address, as well as vice-chair of Pride’s trustees, Kirsten Bayes.
Angela Sydney Moore, R-Trans group leader at Support U; Jo Brydon, Newbury Museum’s trans historian; Rory Sizer, reporter at Trans Radio UK.
It will also see contributions from Cat Burton, chair of trustees at Gender Identity Research & Education Society; Emily Hamilton, vice-president of strategic change at Trans In The City; Kate Glanfield, trustee at Gloucester Pride; and Kerry Kleis, co-founder and team leader of MYUmbrella LGBT+.
Andrea Christine Brookes, regional organiser at The Beaumont Society, and Jason Potts, trans activist and community news reporter at Trans Radio UK, will round out the evening’s roster of speakers.
As well as speeches by attendees, the event will mark the trans lives lost to violence and transphobia, displaying the 327 names of those lost so far this year, with a performance by the Rock Choir.
Reading Borough Council has stated that it will be flying the transgender flag at the civic offices during the weekend of Saturday-Sunday, November 19-20, to show support for the community.
Leading figures from churches and local government will be attending, including Reading Borough Council leader Jason Brock, Reading Minster’s Reverends Judith Sumner and Sonya Wratten, and the mayors of Newbury, Wokingham, and Bracknell Forest.
TDoR was founded in 1999 to memorialise Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was murdered in Massachusetts in 1998.
Transgender Awareness Week takes place from Sunday, November 13, to Saturday, November 19.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil will take place from on 5pm Sunday, 20th November, at Reading Biscuit Factory.
You can also watch online via Reading Pride’s YouTube channel from 7pm.
For more information about Transgender Day of Remembrance, or to reserve a seat, visit: www.tdor-reading.org.uk
