On This Day — Historic White House Briefing on Trans Women of Color Marks Trans Day of Visibility
This piece was originally published 3 years ago today.
In a historic White House briefing today, over 50 transgender women of color gathered to celebrate Women’s History Month and simultaneously mark International Day of Transgender Visibility. Transgender women of color leaders and activists represented African American, Asian American, Latina, Native American, and immigrant communities across the nation. Organized by the White House and the National LGBTQ Task Force, this is the first time transgender women of color, which included National Center for Transgender Equality’s Policy Advisor for the Racial and Economic Justice Initiative, have solely discussed their lives and experiences directly with administration officials.
The briefing comes in light of the seeming uptick in murders of transgender women over the past several years, and within a national political climate intent on legislating away transgender people’s right to use the restroom or engage in school sports.
Thirty transgender women have lost their lives to violence over that past two years, many at the hands of an intimate partner. In the first months of 2015 alone, eight transgender women were brutally murdered from Kentucky to California, to Florida. The majority were under the age of 30 and were of color. In addition, violent attacks and discrimination continues to plague the lives of transgender people across the United States.
