ELEVATING VISIBILITY
March 31 marks the annual International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) to celebrate the lives of transgender people and to raise awareness on the discrimination they still face.
For the second consecutive year, there will be an event held in celebration of the TDOV at Museum Siam. The event — hosted by Museum Siam, Phayao Youth News Agency and TEAK Trans Empowerment — will bring together performances from transgender artists, talks, workshops, exhibitions, and a transgender-friendly job fair under the theme “My Hope For Today And Tomorrow”.
“We choose the theme hope in order for everyone in the community to remain hopeful for today and tomorrow that our lives will get better, that one day we shall have gender recognition law, a law to protect us from discrimination so we can be equal with everyone,” said Kaona Saowakun, Thai transgender activist, co-founder and secretary of TEAK Trans Empowerment.
Highlights of this year’s event include a photo exhibition by Naeree Photography and Nana Chen, which brings to light the imagery of transgender men and women that captures the essence of the transgender movement in Thailand. Talks will be going on during daytime, touching on the topic of non-binary people, elderly transgenders, and more. After sunset, there will be performances by artists such as Johnnifer from The Voice, Chinz from I Can See Your Voice, Tara Transitory and Nguyen Baly, Noey Taritsara, and a show by Sisters Cabaret from Pattaya.
From 1-4.30pm, the first transgender-friendly job fair in Bangkok will be held in support of the inclusion within workplace. Some of the confirmed companies that will be participating include Watashi Engineering, Krungthai Axa, APCOM Foundation and more. Don’t forget to bring your resume if you’re currently seeking.
“We intend to host this transgender-friendly job fair to raise awareness and challenge our community that there is discrimination in employment. Many people can’t get a job because they are transgender, and some are faced with verbal harassment. We wish for the community and the society to realise this problem,” added Kaona.
The International Transgender Day of Visibility 2018 will take place at Museum Siam this Saturday from 11am-9.30pm. Entry is free.