Day 12 GLBTQ WOmen
Since 2006, 14 Valentines has striven to both celebrate how far women have come, and to increase awareness for how far we still have to go for full equality, autonomy, and inclusion.
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It's probably not at all a surprise that a community with so many letters in its acronym is not entirely cohesive and fully inclusive. GLBTQ rights often are reduced to white cis gay male rights and perspectives. Lesbians, for example, have had to fight to carve out a place of inclusion within the activist community as a whole. Bisexual individuals still are lambasted by people-both within and outside of the queer community-for not being queer enough. Those whose sexualities and/or genders are not intrinsically associated with the G, L and B in the acronym feel voiceless and ignored, not just by society, but also by the queer activist community. And people of color, no matter gender or sexuality, are often not the focus of activism, nor are their issues often given priority by majority queer activists.
Trans women especially are left out in the cold. They suffer a high percentage of violence perpetrated against them, and issues, rights and problems that are crucial to their existence are not put front and center by the queer community. As a result, while many members of the G, L and B communities are gaining more widespread acceptance and protections, trans women's concerns-which are often life-threatening-don't gain nearly as much notice, attention or focus.
The Trans Women's Anti-Violence Project is a trans feminist project addressing issues of systematic, institutional and interpersonal violence and oppression experienced by trans women (those who were coercively assigned male at birth and identify or are identified as women/female) across multiple identities (e.g., race, class, dis/ability, citizen-status, nationality, sexuality, age, HIV status, and form, status, or age of transition, etc.)