Transgender Awareness Week is upon us and runs from Nov 14 - Nov 19. It's purpose is to help the local community understand who transgender people are, the problems they face, and how to support the transgender community. Close family members, friends, or co-workers of a transgender person will especially find Transgender Awareness Week a valuable source of information. It's also a time for those who have their own gender issues to seek the guidance they need that will lead them on the path to finding themselves. The week culminates with the Transgender Day of Remembrance. This is a vigil to remember transgender people who lost their lives due to hate crimes, and to hope there will come a day when all transgender people can live their lives as themselves without fear.

Every year in November, SAGA celebrates Transgender Awareness Week, a full schedule of programs and events to celebrate trans life, to raise the visibility of transgender issues in the community, and to provide a safe venue for gender-questioning and gender-diverse people to discover and rejoice in their unique place in the gender universe.

You can become a part of Transgender Awareness Week, and you can even help with the program.

Volunteers are critical to the success of this event. To volunteer your time and enthusiasm, contact coordinator 520.624.1779x120.

And if you wish to contribute to defraying the costs of this year’s Transgender Awareness Week events, please click the link below to donate through Wingspan's secure payment center.

Your gift is tax deductible, and the link is unique to Transgender Awareness week.

Thank you so much for your support.

On Sept. 27, three years after a similar proposal was rejected, Equality Maricopa, led by former Tucsonan Lori Gershik, joyfully watched as the governing board of the nation's largest community-college system, the Maricopa County Community College District, voted to add "gender identity" to its anti-discrimination policy.

This victory, and the lessons learned from the battle to achieve it, will have a lasting and far-reaching impact as other transgender-advocacy groups and their allies petition for similar policy changes in other jurisdictions. 

Three SAGA members, including SAGA Program Coordinator Erin Russ, attended this historic meeting as a show of solidarity and to speak about Tucson's experience with transgender-inclusive policies in support of the policy change.

Erin Russ has been appointed SAGA Coordinator at Wingspan, replacing Alison Davison, who has retired. Erin has been a SAGA member since 2000, has served on the SAGA Advisory Committee during that time, and has worked closely over the years with Alison and with Michael Woodward, the SAGA Coordinators before her. Erin has also served on the Board of Directors for the Tucson GLBT Chamber of Commerce, and was a founder of the Southern Arizona chapter of Transgender America Veterans Association (TAVA).  We are delighted to have Erin as our new Coordinator, and look forward to a brilliant future under her leadership.

Pictures have been posted from our Thanksgiving party at Kevin's house.  Click here to view...

"My experiences in dealing with police and hospital personnel after my rape was not pleasant and lacked a lot of sensitivity to trans issues." - Survey Respondent 

"Finding doctors who will treat, will prescribe, and will even look at you like a human being rather than a thing has been problematic. Have been denied care by doctors and major hospitals so much that I now use only urgent care physician assistants, and I never reveal my gender history." - Survey Respondent 

"I have also had several bouts with depression and anxiety disorders and once ended up in the emergency room for depression. I still bounce in and out of depression due to not being able to get the appropriate surgical procedures." - Survey Respondent 

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 - Transgender and gender non-conforming people face rampant discrimination in health care settings, are regularly denied needed care, and experience a range of health risks because they are transgender or gender non-conforming, according to a report of over 6,450 transgender and gender non-conforming people. The National Transgender Discrimination Survey: Report on Health and Health Care was released nationally today by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality. 

Key findings include:
o Nearly 1 in 5, 19%, reported being refused care outright, because they were transgender or gender non-conforming;
o Survey participants reported very high levels of postponing medical care when sick or injured due to discrimination and disrespect (28%);
o Harassment: 28% of respondents were subjected to harassment in medical settings;
o Significant lack of provider knowledge: 50% of the sample reported having to teach their medical providers about transgender care;
o Despite barriers, the majority have accessed some form of transition-related medical care; but only a minority has had any surgery, despite the fact that a strong majority stated wanting to have it someday;
o Respondents reported over four times the national average of HIV infection, 2.64% in our sample compared to 0.6% in the general population, with rates for transgender women at 3.76%, and with those who are unemployed (4.67%) or who have engaged in sex work (15.32%) even higher;
o Over a quarter of the respondents misused drugs or alcohol specifically to cope with the discrimination they faced due to their gender identity or expression;
o A staggering 41% of respondents reported attempting suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population. 

Made for Flight is a transgender and ally youth empowerment workshop series and kite building project organized by SAGA member TC Tolbert, to commemorate those transgender individuals who have been murdered in the last year.  We just had our first workshop this week and the participants were simply awesome with their enthusiasm, creativity, and investment in social justice.  You can see some of the kites and read more about the project at the website.

If you are in Tucson and know of any youth who may be interested in the project (it is open to LGBTQ and Straight Ally youth) - please pass this on to them.  If you would like to host a Made for Flight workshop - please let TC know.  He'll be happy to bring it to your school or community organization!

We've updated our information on establishing an identity and what documentation is required for the various pieces of identification.  The information covers Driver's Licenses, Social Security, Passports, and Birth Certificates.  Click here to learn about establishing your transgender identity.