The Clan Mother’s Healing Village and the Inner City Student Council joined forces on November 20 to celebrate Two Spirit and Transgender Day of Remembrance. They did this in cooperation with the interior area social work faculty and staff.
The meeting was presided over by Elder Mae Louise Campbell, Jamie Goulet, and Debra Diubaldo from the Clan Mother’s Healing Village, as Mount Carmel Clinic workers, students, residents, and staff discussed memories of crime and the need for change.
According to Dr. Christine Mayor (she/her), assistant professor at the Faculty of Social Work, “we have a responsibility in social work to advocate for policies and practices, both within the university and beyond, that allow two-spirited, trans, and gender diverse folks to thrive.”
This day is also a call to action for all transgender people to work together to end cisgenderism, imperialism, sexism, racism, poverty, and other oppressive systems that continue to have overwhelmingly negative effects on people who are transgender, two-spirit, or gender diverse due to the rise of anti-trans rhetoric and violence. Both inside and outside the University of Social Work, this work is required.
The annual Two-Spirit and Transgender Day of Remembrance, which falls on November 20th, honors the memory of people who were transgender, two-spirits, or gender diverse and whose lives were lost as a result of anti-transgender violence. Gwendolyn Ann Smith established it in 1999 to honor Rita Hester’s memory.
