international transgender day of visibility

I also came across this video on YouTube by Fi Black - something they put together for a school project. The map is certainty not exhaustive, but it does enable you to explore in an interactive manner.

In that respect, I'm using TDOV as a vehicle to celebrate and highlight gender-diverse cultures around the world, as a way of demonstrating that gender diversity in all humans is neither strange nor a recent 'fad'.Įxamples of gender diversity around the worldĪs part of a 2015 film project 'Kumu Hina', Independent Lens put together a map of gender-diverse cultures. Both Ballestín and Lugones make reference to this. It is important to note, however, that many do consider the term 'transgender' itself to be a western construct and definition, and see the application of it to gender-diverse cultures as problematic in itself. There is much further reading that can be undertaken with this issue which you can seek out yourself, but I'll point to Lucas Ballestín's 2018 essay 'Gender as Colonial Object' and 'The Coloniality of Gender' (2008) by the late Maria Lugones as two suggestions of recommended reading, with the latter being a deep read which intersects issues such as women's empowerment and race. Through the process of colonalisation, both overt in the age of European empires and internally leading to individuals conforming to societal norms, gender diversity beyond this binary has mostly been either diminished or subjugated. The concept that gender is a masculine-feminine binary, tethered to a person's biological sex is very prevalent in western society. What's it got to do with 'decolonisation'? On the day, there is a ramp-up of news, stories and events focusing on trans people, and a chance to give everyone the opportunity to learn first that trans people exist, to accept and respect that they do, and learn more to understand the issues that they face. TDOV 'is an annual event occurring on March 31 dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, as well as a celebration of their contributions to society.' ( Wikipedia). What is International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV)?

While the narrative around decolonising education has largely coalesced around racial inequality and movements such as Black Lives Matter, and rightly so, 'gender diversity' intersects exceptionally strongly with it.Īnd so today, on International Transgender Day of Visibility 2021, I'll be highlighting both some of the issues facing gender diverse people through a decolonisation lens, but also celebrating the colour and beauty that such people bring to the world. After all, a significant element to geography is to explore and understand the wonderful diversity this planet has to offer, both physically and socially. My love of geography and identifying as a 'geographer' has played a massive part in both embracing and celebrating the fact that I myself am a transgender person.

International transgender day of visibility