Join us in marking Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV)
31 Mar 2022
Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) has been recognised annually since 2009 and once again we are marking this important day on Thursday, 31 March
Our University values all sections of our diverse population. TDOV gives us the opportunity to see how far we have come in supporting trans peoples’ rights, inclusion and equality.
We wanted to take a moment to celebrate trans voices and victories by sharing with you a small sample of just some of our favourite trans stories. These are told through a range of fun and informative films, books, podcasts, and social media activists!
Alongside these links you can find last year’s fascinating webinar focusing on trans and non-binary speech and language therapy delivered by Indigo Gender Service.
Please take a look and explore all of these engaging insights over on our dedicated StaffNet page:
As well as celebrating how far we have come, TDOV can also be an opportunity to remind us of the ways that allies can do more going forward for trans colleagues and students.
Our TDOV page also shares resources with information and training links as well as other direct actions you can make including:
- Become an ALLOUT ally
- Update your signature and Teams/Zoom name to include your pronouns
- Use a Trans flag as your backdrop for any Zoom or Teams meetings
- Tweet about our activity using #TDOV2022 and @UOMLGBT
Finally, we would like to draw your attention to the below quote from Rachel Cowen, University Academic Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (Gender and Sexual Orientation Equality).
"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 an 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."