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Community Corner

Affirmations Hosts a Transgender Day of Empowerment

Affirmations hosted a day of empowerment for the transgender community to raise awareness and provide a forum for open discussion and education.

On Saturday afternoon, hosted The Transgender Day of Empowerment, an effort to not only raise awareness and educate on transgender identification and issues, but to also to empower transgenders in and around the community.

A panel of organizers came from a diverse background. They ranged from representatives of nonprofits such as KICK (The Agency for Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Transgender African-Americans) to volunteers from schools such as Oakland University.

"This day is to empower the transgender community, to show that we are human beings and this is our day," said Michelle Fox-Phillips, executive director of Transgender Detroit. According to these ideals, the day was a success, as allies and members of the LGBTQ community came together to educate and discuss the issues facing the community today.

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The event, while small on the surface, hosted some big names for any community including representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Community Relations Service (CRS) is a lesser-known division of the Department of Justice, and its goal is to help communities reduce hate crimes through education and understanding of the differences between different groups of people in a community. 

They have been around since 1965, and on Saturday the Deputy Director of The Community Relations herself, Diane Mitchum, gave a presentation on what CRS can and can't do to help prevent hate crimes and assuage the wounds hate crimes leave behind. 

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"We do not come in with solutions, but try to learn about the community and help find solutions that work for their particular community," Mitchum said. She went on to explain how this often means helping one group -- such as the transgender community -- interact with the local law enforcement, so that law enforcement may be educated on that community and the two may have a working relationship.

The event was packed, beginning with the presentation from Community Relations Service, followed by an active question and answer panel, then a Town Hall meeting to discuss ways the community may be further empowered, and finally ending with talks about the Anti-Bullying Legislation.

Questions on the panel ranged from the simple -- "Why are you an ally of the transgender community?" -- to the complex -- "What can we do to keep high school students included and not discriminated against based on their sexual orientation?" The panelists and audience provided answers to questions, such as KICK President, Tiffany McClean, opening the discussion with the straight forward answer that being an ally is "the right thing to do."

The room soon relaxed into a atmosphere that welcomed open discussion, preparing the way for the Board of Trustees Town Hall meeting to discuss ways to implement the changes, and finally wrapping up with upcoming plans to help citizens become more active in pushing through the Anti-Bullying Legislation at the Michigan State Government level.

Organizers said the day succeeded in its goal, empowering the transgender community and its allies. The reception of the community members was well received in Ferndale, and demonstrated that, as Fox-Phillips put it: "The Ferndale community is very transgender-friendly."

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