© 2024 NPR Illinois
The Capital's Community & News Service
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Phoenix Center Strives To Connect With Transgender Community

Luca Casarteli/Wiki Commons

November 20th is known as "Transgender Day of Remembrance." It's an acknowledgement of those who were the victims of violence caused by their gender identification and presentation. Unlike the rest of the words in the acronym "LGBT" - transgender is not a sexuality. It is an umbrella term used for those who feel the sex they were born as is not an accurate depiction of the gender they feel themselves to be. 

In Springfield, Jonna Cooley heads The Phoenix Center, a community center for LGBT people. She says she often gets requests for information about services for transgender people, but she has found there to be a lack of those services in the central Illinois area. The Phoenix Center will recognize the Transgender Day Of Remembrance on Thursday with an event from 6 to 7pm at the center's conference room (more info HERE.)

Cooley also tells WUIS the center is beginning a new transgender support group that will meet once a month. It will meet the third Thursday of every month from 6:30 to 8:30 pm and begin in December. Cooley spoke with us about the event and about those efforts:

CLICK HERE to read the report "Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Survey" done by The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and The National Center for Transgender Equality.

CLICK HERE to listen to Rachel Otwell interview "gender outlaw" - Kate Bornstein.

Rachel Otwell of the Illinois Times is a former NPR Illinois reporter.
Related Stories