YWCA Marks International Transgender Day of Visibility
Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility and, to mark the occasion, YWCA Metro Vancouver teamed up with QMUNITY to share their #YouBelongHere campaign.
The International Transgender Day of Visibility is acknowledged each year on March 31 and recognizes the resilience and accomplishments of the transgender community, as well as raising awareness of the discrimination faced by the transgender community worldwide. On this day, we celebrate trans people, raise awareness about the struggles they face and advocate for more protected rights. YWCA Metro Vancouver stands in solidarity with the trans community and is committed to continuing to advocate for trans rights.
QMUNITY's #YouBelongHere campaign called on the trans community and its allies to capture and share photos with messages of solidarity:
- Support, Uplift, Protect Trans Voices
- Trans Rights Are Human Rights
- Protect Trans Kids
- Trans Women Are Women
In support of #YouBelongHere, members of the Trans community joined us on Vancouver's waterfront to stand on our statue-less statue base, designed to honour and lift-up ALL women and girls - with their messages of solidarity.
Photographer: Joy Gyamfi
Our statue base, Reserved for Her Championed by Scotiabank, was launched on International Women’s Day to highlight the lack of public monuments honouring women and girls across Canada, and to create a literal platform to lift-up and celebrate women and girls in our community. Local women and girls are encouraged to come out, take their picture and post their story, including #ReservedForHer.
We recognize that Reserved for Her Championed by Scotiabank is not accessible for all women. Our intention was to include a ramp as part of our statue-less statue base, but we were unable to build an elevated plinth that guaranteed participant safety. We sincerely regret this and we will strive to do better in future campaigns.
