Trans Holidays!

I bet that most of you has heard about Pride, or at least some stuff LGBT happening during June. Well, did you know that there are a lot of LGBT holidays? Not just the ones that blast on TV and such? Well, it took me a while to figure that out. And with the International Transgender Day of Visibility being so recent, it would be a good idea to enlighten y'all on all our holidays! here we go:

National GLBT Health Awareness Week (last week of March)- The Annual LGBT Health Awareness Week is a nationwide event that promotes the special health and wellness needs of the LGBT community!

International Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31)- This is an annual holiday dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by the transgender community worldwide. Founded by Rachel Crandall in 2009 due to their frustration that there's little to none holidays for transgender people ass well as the only specific transgender holiday being the Transgender Day of Remembrance only celebrating the dead victims of hate crimes, not the living ones.

Day of Silence (April 17)- The Day of Silence is the GSLEN (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network) annual day to protest the bullying and harassment of the LGBT students and allies. Students take day-long vow of silence to represent the silencing of LGBT students and their supporters.

International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (May 17)- This holiday is a recognized essential holiday on the LGBT calendar. This day aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights violations and to stimulate interest in LGBT rights work worldwide. This specific day was chosen to commemorate the decision to remove homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization in 1990.

LGBTQ Pride (June)- The Pride month is the positive stance against discrimination and violence towards the LGBT community to promote their self affirmation, dignity, equality rights, increase their visibility , build community, and celebrate sexual diversity and gender variance. Pride is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBT rights movements around the world. Pride events are usually held during LGBT Pride month or some other time that commemorates a point in a country's LGBT history. Some Pride events include parades, marches, rallies, commemorations, community days, dance parties, and large festivals.

International Drag Day (July 16)- This day celebrates the greatness of Drag artists and their contribution to the LGBT community.

LGBTQ History Month (October)- LGBTQ History Month is a month-long annual observance of LGBT history and the history of the gay rights and civil rights movement. It's observed during October in the US, to include National Coming Out Day. The UK observes it during February to coincide with a major celebration of the 2005 abolition of Section 28.

National Coming Out Day (October 11)- National Coming Out Day is an internationally observed awareness day celebrating individuals who publicly identify as a gender or sexual minority. This day is observed annually by both the LGBT community and allies. This holiday was founded in 1988 by Robert Eichberg. The date was chosen because it was the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

Spirit Day (October 17)- Created by Canadian teenager Brittany McMillan, on this day people wear purple to show support for LGBT youth who are victims of bullying. The name comes from the purple stripe of the Rainbow flag, which the definition of that stripe is "representing spirit". This holiday was created in response to a rash of publicized bullying-related suicides of LGBT school students in 2010.

Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20)- This is a day to memorialize those who have killed because of transphobia and acts to bring attention to the continues violence endured by the transgender community. Founded in 1998 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith to memorialize the murder of Rita Hester.

I didn't include all the LGBT holidays, sadly, but you can check out the more detailed list and information on https://queer.ucsc.edu/resources/QueerHolyDays.html . I hope y'all have a wonderful week and I'll see y'all next time!

-Damian