In honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance, Precinct 4 interviewed Harris County LGBTQIA+ Commission member Diamond Stylz to learn more about the holiday and its importance.

Precinct 4: Tell me about yourself and how you got into activism.

Diamond Stylz: I am a cultural anthropologist. I am a Trans oral historian. I am a human rights activist. Those three things encompass what I try to do within my work.

I think just being out here and living your truth is liberatory and something that can be considered activism. But if we're talking about organized activism, I started in 1999 when I sued my high school to go to prom in a gender-affirming gown, like I should have been allowed to do. It was a First Amendment rights case that I won that solidified that kind of innate foundational courage and rebellious spirit that you need to self-advocate, which then grew into a community advocacy with myself.

Precinct 4: What is Transgender Awareness Week?

Diamond: Oh God, it's my favorite week of the year. Transgender Awareness Week is a week in November rooted in the annual Trans Day of Remembrance, on November 20th.

So that week, that special day of November the 20th, it started as a time to reflect on the many deaths of Trans people. But it has now grown to be more of a celebratory time where we explore the Trans history and the cultural impact of our lives that is usually looked over and erased. It's a week where we celebrate Trans people within our communities and what we have contributed to this country in particular.

Precinct 4: What is Transgender Day of Remembrance?

Diamond: Transgender Day of Remembrance was started in 1999 by Gwen Ann Smith, a Trans advocate. It is an annual time where we give reverence to commemorate all the Trans people that have been lost to anti-Trans violence.

I just created a database in partnership with Insider of all murders of Trans and nonbinary people from 2015 to 2022. What we learned is most of the time it is domestic violence [and] socio-economic factors that lead to Trans people being murdered, just like cis people. It's not some of these things that people try to sell as a narrative. So, when we look into the data, it's something that's important that we need to commemorate ... because it was and is an epidemic in our culture – in Trans culture.

Precinct 4: How is the LGBTQIA+ Commission’s work helping uplift the Trans community?

Diamond: I joined the Commission because it gave me a seat at the table. I wanted to be a part of guiding the courts and our officials to better strategies and better policies for all LGBT folks, and that includes Trans people.

The Commission is always working on streamlining anything that deals with gender affirming care. We want to make sure Trans people in our community have access to healthcare, just like everybody else.

We also want to make sure that everybody has access to safe public accommodations. We want to make sure people have access to anything that may help when they hit a bump in the road, like name changes or documents.

We also want to make sure that you can connect with people. We are creating an event calendar. We're having a book fair on books that we think are super educational – they even might be banned. We want to create a resource list for people to come and be a part of our community and understand that you are one of us too. We're all human.

Precinct 4: What can residents do if they want to uplift, honor, or learn more about the LGBTQIA+ community, especially the Trans community, during this week, and any week?

Diamond: We all want a world where we all feel safe and included. Create that world in the circle that you have power to do that. Your home, the places where you volunteer, your church, your classroom, your office, even your yoga class. Wherever you have the power.

Teach people in those spaces about trans people or create a safe place so that you can even invite trans people that you know and love into the space. You have the power to have your voice heard, and say, “Hey, how can we be more inclusive our trans siblings?”

Follow more trans content creators. Read Trans authors. Watch shows with Trans characters, and support Trans led events. The Harris County LGBTQIA+ Commission is creating a calendar for you to come and see what we actually are out here doing. Come and explore our resources.

Precinct 4: Is there anything I didn't ask you that you want to make sure people know?

Diamond: We already know we’re in a tumultuous time when it comes to politics and the state of the world. It makes us feel like we are disconnected from people. Don't believe it.

There are people out here that are working together and not letting some of these things divide us. I know so many people that are out here making me feel included, loved, and like I’m a part of the greater good.

So, while the narrative is that everybody is clashing and going against each other, I'm all about joy. I'm a part of a community that is all about joy. It is Trans people in that community. It is gay men, gay women. It is straight people, cisgender people, disabled people. [This community is] spreading love and making people feel included, and you can be a part of [it]. You can be one of the people that are working in joy and not in hate.