The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board hosted a Transgender Day of Remembrance webinar for students, staff and families on Thursday, November 17, 2022 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
This information session helped participants learn more about transgender identity and support for trans and gender diverse students. It was also an invitation to hear stories of resilience from transgender folx who are thriving! Participants heard from Kusha Dadui, former OCDSB Trans and Gender Diverse Student Support Coordinator, and a panel including trans activist/educator Ki, nonbinary educator - Sapphire Woods, and trans rights advocate - Ziva Gorani.
About Transgender Day of Remembrance
Transgender Day of Remembrance was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester's death, and began an important tradition that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is internationally recognized every year on November 20th.
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This event is part of OCDSB’s ongoing commitment to supporting trans and gender diverse students in our District through ongoing staff training, parent and student workshops, virtual drop-in groups and school library texts.
If you have a question, you can refer to OCDSB’s Gender Identity & Expression FAQs. For more information and resources, please visit OCDSB’s 2SLGBTQ+ Supports webpage. You can also reach out to your child’s school for more information.
Know more about the panelists:
Ki is a 40 year old Black, trans & non-binary, weirdo. They have been working across Dish with One Spoon territories in the spirit of decolonization, Black liberation and trans dignity for the last 15 years. Ki currently holds the position of Trans Program coordinator at Sherbourne Health in Toronto.
Sapphire Woods (they/them) is a Black of Caribbean descent shapeshifter, gender non-conforming educator, Virgo sun and Aquarius moon living on and intrinsically inspired by Algonquin territories and its forests. In order to thrive, they spend a lot of time (re)learning how to keep their heart soft and strengthen their relationship to self-conservation while staying active in their favourite love language - acts of service.
Always on their mind: ways we can move fluidly in our relationships that honour dignity and respect for our intersecting identities. On most weekdays, you can find them plotting ways to organize mutual aid, using someone's student login to download articles on the Shango Baptists in Trinidad and talking to their Granny on the phone.
Ziva Gorani is a human rights advocate and spokesperson for the rights of trans, Kurdish, Syrian, refugees. An international public speaker with a degree in computer science majored in A.I. and has a standing record working with researchers in thé Academia from around the world. Winner of the Global Health Educational Initiative for 2019. Subject in the winning podcast in the Canadian Ethnic Media Award 2018. Nominated for Everyday Political Citizen award and Waterfront Magazine award. Member of the Syrian Women Political Movement and an independent data analyst in the human experience in work environments. Currently she is working on a documentary about her life and soon to be a trained actor from George Brown Collège.