It’s #TransAwarenessWeek and I’m here with some advice on taking part in awareness and visibility campaigns:

The nuance of visibility, safety and privilege is something to carry through to national celebrations of LGBTQ and POC communities as well as awareness days of issues that affect us. I’ll refer to them here as campaigns, and everyone will have a different relationship to them.

What is the intention when taking part in this campaign? This will help shape what the campaign looks like and who it is for. Be cautious of ‘performative allyship’ – taking part in campaigns just to look like an ally without doing the work of being an ally.

Who is taking part in this campaign? Take note of the people who are leading the campaign; who is the driving force behind it? Campaigns should be led by the people they affect and represent and driven by people with that lived experience.

What does the community need? If you have reflected on your intentions and have trans leading and heading a campaign, go back to consultation and make sure you have asked directly and explicitly. The TPOC community will always know what the trans community needs.

What can we do for the community? Knowing our privilege is a prerequisite to this question; it’s about knowing the true influence, power and capacity we have on an organizational and individual level.

What are we prepared to do next? Intentions matter and speak volumes, but actions are louder. A campaign needs to be more than taking part. A community exists beyond
one day, week or month of awareness-raising, and a community will need us beyond that too.

Like what you’re hearing? go on and pre-order my book now. Treat yourself or your cis mates and make their day.