Trans March
Encyclopedia
Trans March is an annual gathering and protest march in San Francisco, California
that takes place on the Friday night of Pride weekend
, the last weekend of June. It is a mostly transgender
/transsexual/intersex
-led and inclusive event in the same spirit of the original gay pride parade
s and dyke march
es. It is one of the few large annual transgender events in the world and has likely been the largest transgender event since its inception in June 2004. The purpose of the event is to increase visibility, activism
and acceptance of all gender-variant people.
The event became the fourth main LGBT Pride event in San Francisco; all of which are inclusive and ask for donations instead requiring paid admission; San Francisco Pride
(SF Pride), with a festival on Saturday, parade and festival Sunday; San Francisco Dyke March
on Saturday afternoon and march in the evening; and Pink Saturday
which is an evening street party in The Castro Saturday evening run by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
. SF Pride, and the organizers of the other much larger events all participated in supporting the event since its inception with funds, material and technical support. The event utilizes the same staging and performance area as the Dyke March and has ended most years at the SF Pride grounds at the city's Civic Center
.
was widely distributed to San Francisco Bay Area
's activist and transgender communities in March 2004. It coincided with the first trial in the murder of East Bay transwoman Gwen Araujo
and called for a Trans March helping launch "the largest transgender event of its kind." Araujo's murder by four men and their disposing of her body heightened awareness of violence against LGBT people and especially transwomen and transmen. Araujo's related case and appeals lasted for over two years. The first several Trans Marches ended with a rally including a trans altar remembering her and many other trans people also killed. Attendance in 2004 was estimated at 2,000 it doubled to 4,000 the following year.
In 2006 the event grew in diversity and inclusiveness. The mission of the march was restated as "to demonstrate that the violence and discrimination directed against the transgender community will not be tolerated. It is an acknowledgment of the struggles of the trans community for respect, acceptance, and civil rights. And, it is designed to build a supportive, unified trans community bringing together diverse genders, ages, and ethnic backgrounds along with allies." In 2007 a Trans March started in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Attendance in San Francisco was estimated at 7,500.
In 2008 Donna Rose, who had resigned from national LGBT
advocacy group Human Rights Campaign
after the organization supported a version of ENDA
that did not include gender identity
was one of many featured speakers. The theme of 2008 was "Marching for a Gender Inclusive ENDA and removal of Gender Identity "Disorder" (GID)
as a mental illness." Activist Arianna Davis stated to the crowd, "We are mocked by medicine and belittled by the media ... I don't have a mental disorder – do you?" She emplored the crowd to "demand that GID be removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
." Protesters also objected to the current workgroup appointed by the American Psychiatric Association
to revise the gender and sexuality sections of the DSM as it included Kenneth Zucker
, "known for his gender-conforming therapies in children" and Ray Blanchard
, whose theory of autogynephilia "claims that some people transition because they are aroused by female clothing." Attendance of the march which grew in diversity was estimated at 10,000.
In 2009 the now ten-person coordinating committee elected to forgo the Castro gay neighborhood
and instead march through the predominantly Latino
Mission District. They cited several reasons; many transgender people live in the neighborhood unable to afford the pricier Castro, organizer Fresh White noted the need to heighten transgender visilbility because of the "tremendous amount of violence that happens to transgenders" in the neighborhood and the area also has a lot of residents who voted for Prop 8, the Californian legislation the changed the state constitution to limit marriage rights
to only gender binary
male-female couples. Organizers expected 10,000 attendees and the event to cost $10,000 much of it raised through sponsorships and fundraisers. Cecilia Chung, who is openly
trans and is the chair of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission is the keynote speaker. In 2009 Toronto
's first-ever Trans Pride March took place in June.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
that takes place on the Friday night of Pride weekend
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
, the last weekend of June. It is a mostly transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
/transsexual/intersex
Intersex
Intersex, in humans and other animals, is the presence of intermediate or atypical combinations of physical features that usually distinguish female from male...
-led and inclusive event in the same spirit of the original gay pride parade
Gay pride parade
Pride parades for the LGBT community are events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture. The events also at times serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage...
s and dyke march
Dyke March
Dyke March is a mostly lesbian-led and inclusive gathering and protest march much like the original gay pride parades and marches. They usually occur the Friday or Saturday before LGBT pride parades and larger metropolitan areas have related events both before and after the event to further...
es. It is one of the few large annual transgender events in the world and has likely been the largest transgender event since its inception in June 2004. The purpose of the event is to increase visibility, activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
and acceptance of all gender-variant people.
The event became the fourth main LGBT Pride event in San Francisco; all of which are inclusive and ask for donations instead requiring paid admission; San Francisco Pride
San Francisco Pride
The San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration, usually known as San Francisco Pride, is a parade and festival held in June each year in San Francisco to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies...
(SF Pride), with a festival on Saturday, parade and festival Sunday; San Francisco Dyke March
Dyke March
Dyke March is a mostly lesbian-led and inclusive gathering and protest march much like the original gay pride parades and marches. They usually occur the Friday or Saturday before LGBT pride parades and larger metropolitan areas have related events both before and after the event to further...
on Saturday afternoon and march in the evening; and Pink Saturday
Pink Saturday
Pink Saturday is a street party held the Saturday night before San Francisco Pride in San Francisco's Castro district. It coincides with the annual Dyke March.Attendees are asked to donate money at the gate...
which is an evening street party in The Castro Saturday evening run by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence , also called Order of Perpetual Indulgence in Australia and elsewhere, is a charity, protest, and street performance organization that uses drag and Catholic imagery to call attention to sexual intolerance and satirize issues of gender and morality...
. SF Pride, and the organizers of the other much larger events all participated in supporting the event since its inception with funds, material and technical support. The event utilizes the same staging and performance area as the Dyke March and has ended most years at the SF Pride grounds at the city's Civic Center
Civic Center, San Francisco, California
The Civic Center in San Francisco, California, is an area of a few blocks north of the intersection of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue that contains many of the city's largest government and cultural institutions. It has two large plazas and a number of buildings in classical architectural style...
.
Mission
The mission of the San Francisco Trans March is to inspire all trans and gender non-conforming people to realize a world where we are safe, loved, and empowered. We strive to create a space for our diverse communities to unite and achieve the social justice and equality that each of us deserves.History
An anonymous e-mailE-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
was widely distributed to San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
's activist and transgender communities in March 2004. It coincided with the first trial in the murder of East Bay transwoman Gwen Araujo
Gwen Araujo
Gwen Amber Rose Araujo , born Edward Araujo, Jr., an American teenage pre-operative transgender woman, was murdered in Newark, California, in October 2002. She was killed by four men, with two of whom she had been sexually intimate, who beat and strangled her after discovering she was transgender...
and called for a Trans March helping launch "the largest transgender event of its kind." Araujo's murder by four men and their disposing of her body heightened awareness of violence against LGBT people and especially transwomen and transmen. Araujo's related case and appeals lasted for over two years. The first several Trans Marches ended with a rally including a trans altar remembering her and many other trans people also killed. Attendance in 2004 was estimated at 2,000 it doubled to 4,000 the following year.
In 2006 the event grew in diversity and inclusiveness. The mission of the march was restated as "to demonstrate that the violence and discrimination directed against the transgender community will not be tolerated. It is an acknowledgment of the struggles of the trans community for respect, acceptance, and civil rights. And, it is designed to build a supportive, unified trans community bringing together diverse genders, ages, and ethnic backgrounds along with allies." In 2007 a Trans March started in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Attendance in San Francisco was estimated at 7,500.
In 2008 Donna Rose, who had resigned from national LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
advocacy group Human Rights Campaign
HRC
HRC may refer to:* Human Rights Campaign* Human Rights Commission* Human Rights Committee* Hugo Rafael Chávez* Hillary Rodham Clinton is sometimes referred to by her initials, HRC.* Hawaii Regional Cuisine* Hawaii regional cuisine* Hard Rock Cafe...
after the organization supported a version of ENDA
Enda
-People:*Enda of Aran, Irish saint*Enda Colleran , Irish sportsman*Enda Kenny , Irish politician*Enda Markey , Irish/Australian singer and actor*Enda McCallion , Irish film director...
that did not include gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
was one of many featured speakers. The theme of 2008 was "Marching for a Gender Inclusive ENDA and removal of Gender Identity "Disorder" (GID)
Gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria . It describes the symptoms related to transsexualism, as well as less severe manifestations of gender dysphoria...
as a mental illness." Activist Arianna Davis stated to the crowd, "We are mocked by medicine and belittled by the media ... I don't have a mental disorder – do you?" She emplored the crowd to "demand that GID be removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders...
." Protesters also objected to the current workgroup appointed by the American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
to revise the gender and sexuality sections of the DSM as it included Kenneth Zucker
Kenneth Zucker
Kenneth J. Zucker is a Jewish American-Canadian psychologist and sexologist, and head of the child and adolescent gender identity clinic at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Based on his collaboration with Susan Bradley, Zucker is considered an international authority in the field...
, "known for his gender-conforming therapies in children" and Ray Blanchard
Ray Blanchard
Ray Milton Blanchard is an American-Canadian sexologist, best known for his research studies on pedophilia, gender dysphoria, and sexual orientation. He has also published research studies on phallometry and several paraphilias, including transvestism and autoerotic asphyxia.-Education and...
, whose theory of autogynephilia "claims that some people transition because they are aroused by female clothing." Attendance of the march which grew in diversity was estimated at 10,000.
In 2009 the now ten-person coordinating committee elected to forgo the Castro gay neighborhood
Gay village
A gay village is an urban geographic location with generally recognized boundaries where a large number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people live or frequent...
and instead march through the predominantly Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
Mission District. They cited several reasons; many transgender people live in the neighborhood unable to afford the pricier Castro, organizer Fresh White noted the need to heighten transgender visilbility because of the "tremendous amount of violence that happens to transgenders" in the neighborhood and the area also has a lot of residents who voted for Prop 8, the Californian legislation the changed the state constitution to limit marriage rights
Rights and responsibilities of marriages in the United States
According to the United States Government Accountability Office , there are 1,138 statutory provisions in which marital status is a factor in determining benefits, rights, and privileges...
to only gender binary
Gender binary
The gender binary is the classification of sex and gender into two distinct and disconnected forms of masculine and feminine. It is one general type of a gender system. It can describe a social boundary that discourages people from crossing or mixing gender roles, or from creating other third ...
male-female couples. Organizers expected 10,000 attendees and the event to cost $10,000 much of it raised through sponsorships and fundraisers. Cecilia Chung, who is openly
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
trans and is the chair of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission is the keynote speaker. In 2009 Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
's first-ever Trans Pride March took place in June.