We have reached the end of November. Families have come together to give thanks and nurture one another. They are unified – they are, quite simply, together.

And as they are together, they reconnect and recollect. They speak of the time that has passed since last seeing one another, they remember what came before this moment of celebration and connection.

There are many people who don’t have that luxury this time of the year. There are many people who must remember a much darker part of their lives – some, the loss of others, while the remaining remember how far they’ve come through adversity and hardship, remembering how hard they had to fight or hide to simply live to see these holidays.

Thanksgiving holds its fair share of connotations – for better, for worse, for all in between. It can be a spectacular time: a genuine, lovely gathering of family and friends. It can be, for perhaps a majority others, a grey time: those detached from their family, or even completely separated; those who spend the holidays alone; those who spend the holidays remembering those they once spent them with, but now live in times long since past. And of course, this isn’t even beginning to delve into the generational traumas of which the “American Thanksgiving” are rooted into and the atrocities that have taken place to build its cruel beginnings.

Regardless of how powerfully it encompasses this month, Thanksgiving is simply a mixed time. In a sense, perhaps the holiday it has evolved into is a time to ignore the traumas of the past – but ignorance does not lead to healing.

Ignoring a wound does not let that wound heal, but instead infect into something far worse. Even in writing this article, staying at a neutral, objective point, the mere act of talking about the negatives of this time of the year will surely outrage others or be deemed “controversial.” But it is simply true. Thanksgiving covers the attempts of many who wish to speak out. The Native American community wants the past to be visible without any strings attached, to spread awareness and knowledge of the wrongdoings of the settlers and the crimes committed against them. There is even a holiday the day after Thanksgiving known as “Native American Day” to amplify this awareness, and the entire month of November holds the monthly observance of “National Native American Month.”

Just as there are widely known observances, there are those buried under or unknown altogether. The one I present today is one that has been utterly erased to a point that few outside of those affected even consider its possibility of existence – an observance that, upon Googling, you won’t even find the name of:

Transgender Awareness Month.

November is a time when many members of the Transgender Community, as well as allies, reflect on pivotal historical moments that have fundamentally built the movement. But these moments come not from success without labor – they are times in which the community has overcome struggle, times in which we have climbed from the dirt placed on us to keep us down, buried, unseen, only to then blossom forth. One of the most notable instances of these happens to be Rita Hester’s murder on November 20th, 1998, due to her gender identity. This sparked outrage among the trans community, inspiring them to fight harder for a brighter future where we could live in a world that did not want to kill those who wanted to happily live as themselves. That’s why November 20th now marks Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is not a celebration, it is not an event of pride – it is a day marking loss. It is candlelit vigils as we read the names of those we have lost to violence, those we have lost to hatred against people being themselves.

We remember this pain. Many must live with it for the rest of their lives. Many suppress who they are to hide this pain – but ignoring the wound never heals it.

I’m sure many reading this may even be hearing about it for the first time. There are very few resources out there to for Transgender Awareness Month, and the closest our community has come has been the establishment of Transgender Awareness Week. It seems that our mourning and visibility must be cut short.

The purpose of Transgender Awareness Month is to educate those who know not of trans issues, of trans struggles, of where our movement originates – of where our movement is leading us. Its purpose is to step out and speak with those who want to learn, and we are more than willing. We know that there are allies who hope to provide as much assistance as they wish, but oftentimes they simply fall back. This month is here to invigorate them and others, to fight hatred with knowledge, to present who we are, what we’ve been through, and where we’re going now.

In Del Norte County, I cannot possibly overemphasize the importance of this.

I have met with a few fellow trans members of Del Norte to discuss its climate and why it is so absolutely crucial to have these conversations – why we need to be seen, why we need to be heard, why we need to be simply affirmed and understood as living beings. We are your neighbors, your fellow community. We want nothing more than to be accepted as we are, and those kind enough to do so inspire us to only further march with our message.

So I present all of this before you – this video, my words, our collective work – on the final day of November, near the month’s end. Why? Because I’m sure this is the first you’re hearing of it. But personally, I don’t believe there should be “designated times” to accept, love, and support others. So take this message as you will. Love your neighbors, learn about them, accept them, even if you don’t fully understand their lifestyles, and if that is the case, ask – talk to them. We are more than willing to explain who we are, more than willing to be seen, because for too long we have been in hiding. Let us all be unified and, quite simply, together.

esent all of this before you – this video, my words, our collective work – on the final day of November, near the month’s end. Why? Because I’m sure this is the first you’re hearing of it. But personally, I don’t believe there should be “designated times” to accept, love, and support others. So take this message as you will. Love your neighbors, learn about them, accept them, even if you don’t fully understand their lifestyles, and if that is the case, ask – talk to them. We are more than willing to explain who we are, more than willing to be seen, because for too long we have been in hiding. Let us all be unified and, quite simply, together.

Let us look forward to a time when the only Remembrance we need is to remember how long ago the trans community was forced to combat violence, and how it has now been reborn into a time of cherishment and acceptance.