'A really important day’: Sacramento LGBT Community Center’s Alexis Sanchez on Transgender Day of Visibility

KCRA3 NEWS. >> ACROSS THE NATION TAYOD, COMMUNITIES ARE CELEBRATING THE TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY. IT IS MEANT TO CELEBRATE TRANSGENDER PEOPLE AND RAISE AWARENESS OF DISCRIMINATION. LATETOR DAY, PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN IS EXPECTETOD ANNOUNCED NEW MEASURES AIMED AT MAKING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MORE INCLUSIVE FOR TRANSGENDER PEOPLE, SUCH AS CREATING A N XEW GENDER MARKER ON U.S. PASSPORT APPLICATIO.NS BACK HERE AT HOME, THE SACRAMENTO LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER WILL RECOGNIZE THE HOLIDAY WITH AN EVENING FULL OF EVENTS. JOINING US NOW US IS ALEXIS SANCHEZ WITH THE CENTER. GOOD MORNING. THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US. >> GOOD MORNING. THANKS FOR HAVING ME. >> WHAT DOES TODAY MEAN FOR THE SACRAMENT OF COMMUNITY AND THE SACRAMENTO CENTER? >> TODAY IS AN IMPORTANT DAY MEANT TO CELEBRATE TNSRA IDENTITIES AND SOME OF THE CHALLENGES OUR COMMUNITY FACES. >> WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT CHALLENGES, CAN YOU BE MORE SPECIFIC. >> TRANSGENDER AND GENDER NONCONFORMING PEOPLE ARE OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD BY PEOPLE AT LARGE DUE TO SOMETIMES THE NEGATIVE WA YS TRANSGENDER PEOPLE ARE PORTRAYED ON FILM AND TELEVISION. OFNTTEIMES, WE SEE THEM REPRESENTED AS VILLAINS OR IN WAYS THAT PERPETUATE STEREOTYPES. TRANSGENDER PEOPLE FACE HIGHER RATES OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING AND SKIC -- AND HOUSING AND SECURY,IT IN ADDITION TO THE NEARLY 240 ANTI-LGBTQ BILLS FILED THIS YEAR, ETH BKUL TARGETING TRANSGENDER PEOPLE A TNDEENAGERS ESPECIALLY. >> HOW DOES THE SACRAMENTO LGBT CENTER HELP WITH SOME OF THESE ISSUES? >> WE HAVE A ROBUST PROGRAM IN TESRM OF -- WE OPERATE A COUPLE SHELTERS FOR LGBTQ YOUTH EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS AND WE HAVE ALL SORTS OF RESOURCES, AN ECONOMIC JUSTICE PROGRAM TO HELP PEOPLE FIND JOBS, AND WE TRY TO MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE AND GET THEM RESOURCES, IN ADDITION TO THE EVENTS AND THINGS THAT ARE MEANT TO PROVIDE A POSITIVE SPACE FOR PEOPLE TO EXIST AND NAVIGATE IN. >> WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE? >> AGAIN, GROWING UP, THE WAY I SAW TRANSGENDER PELEOP PORTRAYED WAS KIND OF AS THE BUTT OF A JOKE, YOU WOULD SEE A MAN IN A DRESS ON A SITCOASM SOMETHING TO LAUGH AT, OR TRANSGENDER PEOPLE PORTRAYED AS SEX WORKERS OR VICTIMSF O CRIME, AND THAT CARRIES NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES THAT PEOPLE HAVE IN THEIR EXPLICIT AND SUBCONSCIOUS BIASES . TRANSGENDER PEOPLE ARE JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE AND ARE A VIBRANT AND WONDERFUL COMMUNITY. >> YOU MENTIONED THERE’S AN EVENING FULL OF EVENTS TO CELEBRATE TODAY. GIVE US SOME DETAILS AND WHAT YOU ARE OFFERING. >> WE WILL BE HAVING AN EVENT AT OUR MIDTOWN LOCATION FROM 3:30 TO 8:00 P.M. IT WILL BE HAPPENGNI OUTSIDE IN OUR PARKING LOT, SO IT IS COVID SAFE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. AT 3:30, A GENDER EXPRESSION PRESENTATION. 4:00 TO 5:00, WE WILL BE MAKING PINSND A BUTTONS WITH PRONOUNS, THINGS PEOPLE CAN MAKE TO EXPRESS THSEEMLVES CREATIVELY. THERE WILL BE AN OPEN MIC FROM 5:00 TO 60,:0 AND FROM 6:30 TO 8:00 P.M., A FILM SCREENING AND DISCUSSION.

Communities in Sacramento and across the world are marking International Transgender Day of Visibility on Thursday. The day is meant to celebrate transgender people and raise awareness about discrimination. The Biden administration also said Thursday that Americans will be allowed to choose an “X” for gender on their passport applications beginning on April 11 and the federal government will make it easier for people to change their gender information on their Social Security cards. The Transportation Security Administration said it will also become more inclusive by setting new gender-neutral screening standards at checkpoints. In Sacramento, the LGBT Community Center has been recognizing Transgender Day of Visibility with several events. Alexis Sanchez, the director of advocacy and training with the center, joined KCRA 3 to talk about what the day means for Sacramento’s transgender community.| VIDEO BELOW | Alexis Sanchez talks about Biden administration's announcements on Transgender Visibility Day“Today is a really important day that’s meant to celebrate trans identities and raise awareness of some of the challenges that our community faces,” Sanchez said. Transgender and gender non-conforming people are often misunderstood due to negative portrayals in the media, she said. “Oftentimes, we see trans people represented as villains or worse, in ways that perpetuate stereotypes,” Sanchez said. They also face higher rates of unemployment and housing insecurity. Of nearly 240 anti-LGBTQ bills that have been filed in state legislatures across the country this year, the bulk of them target transgender people, she said. In Sacramento, the LGBT Community Center operates shelters for LGBTQ youth who are experiencing homelessness. The center also helps with jobs resources. “We really try to meet people where they are at,” Sanchez said. Asked about the biggest misconception about transgender people, Sanchez talked about her experiences growing up. “The way that I saw transgender people portrayed was kind of as the butt of a joke,” she said. “You see a man in a dress in a sitcom and that’s supposed to be something that we laugh at.”Those depictions, as well as portrayals as sex workers, perpetuate stereotypes “that people carry with them.” “We’re just like everybody else and are a pretty vibrant and wonderful community,” Sanchez said. Events at the Sacramento LGBT Community Center on Thursday include an open mic from 5 to 6 p.m. and later a film screening and discussion.

Communities in Sacramento and across the world are marking International Transgender Day of Visibility on Thursday.

The day is meant to celebrate transgender people and raise awareness about discrimination. The Biden administration also said Thursday that Americans will be allowed to choose an “X” for gender on their passport applications beginning on April 11 and the federal government will make it easier for people to change their gender information on their Social Security cards. The Transportation Security Administration said it will also become more inclusive by setting new gender-neutral screening standards at checkpoints.

In Sacramento, the LGBT Community Center has been recognizing Transgender Day of Visibility with several events. Alexis Sanchez, the director of advocacy and training with the center, joined KCRA 3 to talk about what the day means for Sacramento’s transgender community.

| VIDEO BELOW | Alexis Sanchez talks about Biden administration's announcements on Transgender Visibility Day

“Today is a really important day that’s meant to celebrate trans identities and raise awareness of some of the challenges that our community faces,” Sanchez said.

Transgender and gender non-conforming people are often misunderstood due to negative portrayals in the media, she said.

“Oftentimes, we see trans people represented as villains or worse, in ways that perpetuate stereotypes,” Sanchez said.

They also face higher rates of unemployment and housing insecurity. Of nearly 240 anti-LGBTQ bills that have been filed in state legislatures across the country this year, the bulk of them target transgender people, she said.

In Sacramento, the LGBT Community Center operates shelters for LGBTQ youth who are experiencing homelessness. The center also helps with jobs resources.

“We really try to meet people where they are at,” Sanchez said.

Asked about the biggest misconception about transgender people, Sanchez talked about her experiences growing up.

“The way that I saw transgender people portrayed was kind of as the butt of a joke,” she said. “You see a man in a dress in a sitcom and that’s supposed to be something that we laugh at.”

Those depictions, as well as portrayals as sex workers, perpetuate stereotypes “that people carry with them.”

“We’re just like everybody else and are a pretty vibrant and wonderful community,” Sanchez said.

Events at the Sacramento LGBT Community Center on Thursday include an open mic from 5 to 6 p.m. and later a film screening and discussion.

'A really important day’: Sacramento LGBT Community Center’s Alexis Sanchez on Transgender Day of Visibility

GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS

Top Picks