Counseling Services is pleased to announce a week-long series of events to commemorate Transgender Awareness Week (also known as Transgender Awareness Week), to be held from November 13 to November 19, 2023 . The initiative aims to raise transgender awareness and promote inclusivity. transgender community.
Some of those events will include a poster campaign highlighting current and former transgender and non-binary individuals. There will also be a joint event with the Associated Students of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) at the University of Nevada (ASUN) to discuss current anti-LGBTQ+ laws. A support group led by IDEA members will discuss issues of the LGBTQ+ community on Friday, November 17th at 10am at the Counseling Services Annex located in the Great Basin Hall. For more information, please visit. counseling service event Published on the university’s event calendar.
This week’s events will culminate in a significant Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Remembrance Day wake ceremony scheduled for Monday, November 20th at the Counseling Services Annex.
The ceremony celebrates the lives of transgender people and draws attention to the importance of continued efforts toward equality, acceptance, and remembrance.
Counseling Services is calling on community members, campus allies, and advocates to commemorate this important week and contribute to the ongoing dialogue around transgender visibility and rights.
Counseling Services diversity coordinator and clinician Dr. Marquez Wilson acknowledges the importance of this week and the events planned to honor it.
“It’s so important to recognize and celebrate these events so that people in these communities can feel seen and represented,” Wilson said. “We often live in spaces where people don’t feel represented. They don’t see themselves in the media, they don’t see examples of themselves doing good, We don’t even think we’re successful. These weeks are really important for people to feel seen, to feel community, to be able to connect with other people.”
The Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People Remembrance Day event will consist of a candlelight display called “Candle Walk,” displaying photos and biographies of lost individuals from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. After the exhibition, a wake ceremony will be held from 4 p.m.6 pm
“The Walk of Candles will feature photos of all the people who have died this year due to violence against the transgender community,” Wilson said. “Candles will be placed next to each photo. People are welcomed into the Counseling Services Annex in the southwest corner of Great Basin Hall and encouraged to just be in the space… Focus on the faces and the people. Pay attention and get to know them a little bit.
“Next to the photo, we’ll put a short bio that explains who they are and how they were important to the community. A little later that day, a wake will be held. Speakers will come and explain why the community We talk about why is important to them and what it means to them. Then we read the name of each person we have lost and extinguish the candle while they are no longer here. , it shows that their lives had a lot of meaning.”
Counseling Services hosts events throughout the year to support LGBTQ+ students. Although we offer multiple services to all students, we also have clinicians who work with members of the LGBTQ+ community and people who identify as transgender or gender nonconforming. There are many student groups on campus with diverse experiences. If students don’t feel like there’s a group that’s right for them, Wilson recommends starting a group because there are people on campus who are willing to join.