Since 2009, March 31 has been a Transgender Day of Visibility. It was created by Rachel Crandall, a transgender activist who founded the holiday to celebrate and raise the profile of transgender people. Until then, there was only a day of remembrance for the victims of transphobia, which is celebrated on November 20 and draws attention to the murders that occurred due to discrimination and hatred towards transgender people. Rachel, like many others, felt that we needed a holiday that would address a vibrant and diverse transgender community and give them visibility, empowerment.
Ljubljana Pride Association decided to mark this day as part of the weekly Pride Connects events. Usually, the doors of their premises are opened every Tuesday and young activists are invited to learn, debate, co-create and connect. They find it important to provide young people with space and tools for activism, so they try to offer them this once a week with various content.
During quarantine, they remain active and connect in different ways. Therefore, a group of young volunteers decided to make a joint product for the Transgender Day of Visibility. The idea was to combine the purpose of this holiday with the current circumstances and add an activist note, as befits the context of the events the Parade connects. Transgender people asked via social media to send them pictures of themselves quarantining activist activities. This means for some that they are protesting from the balcony, and for others that they are finally taking time for themselves and recharging their batteries. The instructions were general enough to provide a varied and varied content that metaphorically reflected the colorfulness of the transgender community.
Volunteer Katja Štefanec, who works in the association as part of the European Solidarity Corps program, combined all the recordings into a whole with the help of a more experienced editor. Despite the variety of videos, they managed to combine them into a story whose message was that the trans community is also active during quarantine and that it can be seen even if they spend time in their living rooms. Although the initial idea changed slightly during the collection and editing of the recordings, the purpose remained the same. Networking and collaboration has gained new online dimensions and they plan to continue with similar projects until they meet live again.
You can watch the video HERE.
Published on: Mlad.si