Stand with trans | First-ever public campaign for trans in China
Dear comrades!
We would like you to take 3 minutes to read this article, and to learn about the first-ever public campaign for the transgender community in China.
What is Tencent Charity Day?
Sept 9th has been established as the Chinese annual charity day by Shenzhen-based internet giant Tencent since 2015, with the aim of calling on more people who live in China to take part in the cause of public welfare.
This year, the charity department of Tencent will give out 299.99 million during this online campaign. From September 7th to 9th, every donation will have the opportunity to be offered an extra bonus by Tencent, with up to 999 yuan for each person per day. In a word, the Tencent Charity Day is a good opportunity for everyone to take part in supporting charities, especially for those which focus on marginalized issues like LGBT, etc.
What is the project that you are going to support?
“Ending depression for Transgender People” is China’s first transgender-specified project launched by Beijing LGBT Center on the Tencent Charity Day. It consists of four parts, individual case support, transgender supportive hotline, trainings for medical professionals, and transgender youth leadership training. The program will offer a set of fully developed services to be able to fundamentally benefit the transgender community. For more details of the project (in Chinese), please click “Read more”.
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How to support this transgender project?
The bonus donation from Tencent will start throughout the whole period during the Charity Day (from September 7th to September 9th, 9am-6pm). We need you to make your significant donation during this period. You may also make your own fundraising propaganda from the project donation page, and then post it on your social media to encourage your friends to join in and support the transgender community in China.
Q&A about this fundraising campaign:
Q: Who are transgender people?
A: Transgender people are those whose sexual identification or expression differentiates from the biological sex that they are born with. Conservatively speaking, there are more than 4 million transgender people in China.
Transgender had long been identified as “gender identity disorder” due to discrimination and stigma. Under the current international classification, however, transgender is no longer identified as a mental disorder. In the latest revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) published by The World Health Organization (WHO), all the categories concerning transgender have already been removed from the classification of mental disorders. According to psychological professionals, taking transgender as a mental disorder and inflicting conversion therapy on transgender people will greatly increase the risk of depression and suicide.
Q: Why should I help these people in China?
A: Transgender people have been treated unfairly and are even subject to violence due to prejudice from family, school, and workplace. Their living condition is worrying. 99.7 percent of them suffer from domestic violence like imprison, beating, and language assault, and a large amount of them are forced to undergo conversion therapy. 70.8 percent have been afflicted with different kinds of brutality in school, and many dropped out of school. On the job market, transgender people have three times of risk of losing job more than ordinary people and low wage owners constitute a great part, although 68.8 percent of our interviewees have higher education diplomas. 61.5 percent of transgender people are troubled with depression, 73.2 percent suffer from anxiety, 46.2 percent have thought about suicide because of their transgender identity, and 12.7 percent have put it into practice.
Q: What is Beijing LGBT Center?
A: Established in 2008, Beijing LGBT Center is a comprehensive nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the living condition of LGBT people in China. We offer a series of nationwide services for the LGBT community, including professional psychological counseling, social services, and hotlines. We provide training for psychological consultants, transgender medical services offerors, lawyers, and other community members, and hold related conferences. We also give workplace anti-discrimination education and advocate diversity and inclusion in companies, and offer all kinds of anti-prejudice and LGBT promotion information on media.
Q: How can we learn about the outcome of this project?
A: By making a donation, your Wechat account will be linked to this charity project, and you will receive regular follow-up report for the outcome. We will also release the progress of the project each month through Tencent Charity, you may catch up with our latest work through this report.
Q: If I make a donation, what is my benefit?
A: When the donation that you initiate (including all the teams under your name) has reached up to 999 yuan, we will give you a package of themed gifts; when the fund reaches 399 yuan, we will give you a small-size package. Accordingly, we will present you with a certificate of donation.
Finally, we are sincerely looking forward to having you join us to support this project, and supporting transgender community in China. Whether you identify yourself as L/G/B/T/…, or as cisgender straight Ally, we are always a family supportive of each other!