Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV)
25 Mar 2021
Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) has been recognised annually since 2009 and once again we are marking this important day at our University
Our University values all sections of our diverse population and TDOV gives us the opportunity to see how far we have come as an institution as far as trans inclusion and equality is concerned. But at the same time we also need to recognise there is still much more that we can do.
We have put together a page of resources with information, training links and a poem for you all to enjoy:
The Faculty of Science and Engineering is also doing two workshops for their staff on trans inclusion, you can find out more and if there are spaces available to non-FSE staff by contacting them: fse-edia@manchester.ac.uk if you would like to be more involved in the consultation.
Other ways which you can show support for trans staff:
- Become an ALLOUT ally
- Update your signature and Zoom name to include your pronouns
- Use a Trans flag as your backdrop for any Zoom or Teams meetings
- Tweet about our activity using #TDOV2021 and @UOMLGBT
Rachel Cowen, University Academic Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (Gender and Sexual Orientation Equality), has been an ALLOUT ally for a number of years and has recently reflected: "This is a very important event in the University calendar raising the visibility of our valued trans community and celebrating their achievements. In 2019 I was invited as a ally to an ALLOUT Allies event. Here I was privileged to meet Christine Burns MBE, an inspiring Manchester alumni, who played a key role in developing the UK Gender Recognition Act 2004 and was one of the first people to gain a certificate recognising her gender.
"I will never forget Christine’s moving story where she generously shared her experiences as a computer scientist pursuing PhD research but who regrettably discontinued her studies after the first year because she was afraid of not being accepted as she transitioned to go through the process of gender reassignment. Christine’s experiences were over 40 years ago when societal attitudes towards trans people were hopefully very different to what they are now.
"We are enriched as people, as an institution and as a society through the diversity of our community and we must ensure that we all play our part to work towards a work and study environment where everyone feels they belong and can thrive or we risk losing the creativity and innovation of talented people like Christine."