Zero Transphobia’s Week of Action 2024 Highlights “Honored y Beloved” Leaders

November 18 to 22, Monday through Friday, marks Zero Transphobia’s Week of Action. The Latino Commission on AIDS launched the “Zero Transphobia” and “Zero Homophobia” campaigns in 2019 to highlight the negative impacts of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The week of action corresponds with the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, marked internationally each November 20.

This year “Zero Transphobia” highlights “Honored y Beloved” leaders. The commission’s 2024 #HonoredyBeloved Week of Action includes five virtual discussions, described as follows:

EQUITY IN SPORTS
Monday November 18, 2 p.m. ET:

Join us for an engaging webinar with Gerald L. Vega, a visionary leader in health care and public health, accomplished Olympian and Emmy Award–winning storyteller.

TRANS MASC LEADERSHIP & LEGACY 

Wednesday, November 20, 2 p.m. ET

Featuring two influential leaders in the trans community: Adonis Gutierrez and Daron Yanes. Adonis and Daron have dedicated their lives to building inclusive, empowering spaces for transmasculine individuals and advocating for underserved communities.

AFFIRMING SPANISH-LANGUAGE MEDIA STRATEGIES

Thursday, November 21, 2 p.m. ET

This year, the Latinos in the South Program launched a 101 LGBTQ training for Spanish-language media. This endeavor has increased media coverage and partnership on LGBTQ issues across the South by Spanish-language media! Join us as we share our analysis of coverage of LGBTQ issues in Spanish language news sources in nine Southern states. We’ll be joined by Cesar Velazquez Felipe, journalist and reporter for Que Pasa Media Network, and Sol Jimenez, social media and narrative creator for Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, as they share strategies to engage with Spanish-language media.

TRANS LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC HEALTH 

Friday, November 22, 2 p.m. ET

On the last day of Zero Transphobia’s Week of Action, we invite you to a dynamic conversation on trans leadership in public health, featuring Jasmine Phelan, the transgender, gender-nonconforming and nonbinary (TGNCNB) health projects coordinator of TGNCNB workplace inclusion at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Karo Castaneda, an organizer and the Ryan White data manager at Someone Cares in Atlanta.

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The Zero Transphobia initiative also issued a call for art from trans and gender non-conforming Latine youth ages 13 to 25. The theme is “Queer Youth Liberation! Imaging Abundant Queer and Trans Futures.” Artwork must be 2D works, such as paitings or drawings. For more details, including how to upload your submission, visit OasisCenter.NYC/ZeroArtCall. The deadline is November 27, and the top three artists will receive $500, $250 and $150 prizes.

The Latino Commission on AIDS launched “Zero Transphobia” and “Zero Homophobia” to address discrimination in Latin communities, but the issues resonate across communities. Many folks and organizations use this week in November to raise awareness of the unique challenges and strengths of transgender people. (The “Zero Homophobia” campaign runs in May and aligns with the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (#IDAHOBIT), which is marked May 17.)

The Transgender Day of Remembrance offers an opportunity to reflect on those who have lost their lives to anti-transgender violence as well as to honor and uplift the community. Learn more about related activities by searching #TDoR and #TransLivesMatter. This month, Forbes posted an article titled “350 Transgender People Murdered in 2024: ‘Will the Violence Ever End?’” that noted:

“This year, 350 transgender people were killed, a figure that has risen since last 2023’s total of 321.

“TGEU’s annual Trans Murder Monitoring project authors say this marks a ‘significant increase’ in comparison with the previous year of violence against gender-diverse people.

“Since it launched early two decades ago, the project has tracked the murders of over 5,000 transgender people.”

Both the transgender and Latino communities are also disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic. For example, although Latinos make up about 19% of the U.S. population, they constitute 30% of new HIV cases. What’s more, while HIV diagnoses are decreasing among most populations, they are increasing among Latino men who have sex with men. For more details, see National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day 2024 and the POZ Basics on HIV and Latinos 101.

Similarly, check out the POZ Basics on HIV and Transgender People, which notes that:

“Transgender, gender-nonconforming and nonbinary people have a higher rate of HIV than the population as a whole. However, accurate information about how many are affected has been scarce because of a lack of research and incomplete data collection.

“About 1.4 million people in the United States identify as transgender, according to the Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, which focuses on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy.

“Transgender people accounted for 2% of new HIV diagnoses in 2019—or 671 out of the 36,801 new cases reported that year—according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Transgender men accounted for 46 of these cases. Most transgender women diagnosed with HIV were Black (46%) or Latina (35%). Among trans men, 41% were Black, 26% were Latino and 24% were white. Mostly, newly diagnosed trans people were ages 13 to 24 (31%) or 25 to 34 (47%).”

For more articles about HIV and this community, click #Transgender. You’ll find  headlines such as “CDC Sheds Light on High HIV Risk Among Trans Women” and “R.I.P. Cecilia Gentili, Beloved Trans Advocate, Actress and Author.”

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• #Transgender Day of Remembrance
• #transphobia