The City of West Hollywood and its Transgender Advisory Board recognize November as Transgender Awareness Month. Since its incorporation in 1984, the City of West Hollywood has led the region in the pursuit and implementation of progressive policies, fostering an environment of acceptance in which diversity is celebrated.
The City will fly the Transgender flag over West Hollywood City Hall from through Wednesday, November 20, 2024. The City will also light the lanterns above Santa Monica Boulevard in blue, pink, and white – the colors of the transgender flag – through November 20, 2024.
Other events during Transgender Awareness Month include:
The TransDiaries, produced by the National Organization for Women Hollywood Chapter on Friday, November 8, 2024 and Saturday, November 9, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. at the City’s Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. These two performances are free and open to the public. For more information and to RSVP, please visit the Eventbrite page at transdiaries2024.eventbrite.com.
The City of West Hollywood is co-sponsoring the TransLatin@ Coalition’s GARRAS Fashion Show, which will take place on Saturday, November 16, 2024 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Pacific Design Center, located at 8687 Melrose Avenue. Tickets for the TransLatin@ Coalition’s GARRAS Fashion Show can be purchased at https://garras.org. The TransLatin@ Coalition is a nonprofit organization that advocates for the specific needs of the TransLatin@ community that resides in the United States.
The City of West Hollywood will host an in-person Transgender Day of Remembrance Ceremony on Friday, November 15, 2024 at 6 p.m. at the City’s Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. It will feature speakers and a reading of names to memorialize people who have been murdered because of anti-transgender violence. Transgender Day of Remembrance is part of the City’s annual recognition of Transgender Awareness Month, recognized throughout the United States each November. Transgender Day of Remembrance is an opportunity to look forward to the future and recommit to ending discrimination and transphobia by amplifying the visibility and voices of the transgender community. More information about this event is available on the City’s calendar.
The City of West Hollywood encourages community members to honor lives and memories, and to take the opportunity to reflect on the work that remains to be done. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) tracks annual statistics of violence against the people in the transgender community. In the latest statistics currently available, HRC has reported that in 2024 there have been at least 27 transgender or gender non-conforming people fatally shot or killed by other violent means in the United States. A disproportionately high number of victims are Black and Latinx transgender women. The 2024 report follows reports of 25 deaths in 2023 and 59 deaths in 2022.
According to HRC: “it is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color, and that the intersections of racism, sexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and unchecked access to guns conspire to deprive them of employment, housing, healthcare, and other necessities, barriers that make them vulnerable.” This wave of violence has been declared an epidemic by the American Medical Association. Rates of actual violence or deaths may, in fact, be higher but anti-transgender violence can be difficult to accurately measure, as victims are sometimes misgendered in reports, which can delay awareness of deadly incidents.
The City of West Hollywood has been one of the most outspoken cities in the nation in advocating for the legal rights of LGBTQ people. More than 40 percent of residents in the City of West Hollywood identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The City of West Hollywood is one of the first municipalities to form a Transgender Advisory Board, which addresses matters of advocacy on behalf of transgender people in the areas of education, community awareness, and empowerment, and makes recommendations to the West Hollywood City Council. Through its Transgender Advisory Board, the City of West Hollywood regularly co-sponsors programming and recognizes Transgender Awareness Month and Transgender Day of Remembrance each November.
As part of its support of the transgender community, the City of West Hollywood has a Transgender Resource Guide available on the City’s website, which provides information about a variety of resources including legal, health, and social services, available in the Greater Los Angeles area to enhance and improve the well-being of transgender people.
For more information about Transgender Awareness Month, please contact Moya Márquez, the City of West Hollywood’s Community Programs Coordinator, at (323) 848-6574 or at [email protected]. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.
For up-to-date information about City of West Hollywood news and events, follow @wehocity on social media, sign-up for news updates at www.weho.org/email, and visit the City’s calendar of meetings and events at www.weho.org/calendar. West Hollywood City Hall is open for walk-in services at public counters or by appointment by visiting www.weho.org/appointments. City Hall services are accessible by phone at (323) 848-6400 and via website at www.weho.org. Receive text updates by texting “WeHo” to (323) 848-5000.
If people aren’t aware of trans people by now, they must be dead
Good grief. Can we just focus on running the city? Doing a little lousy job right now.