Billboards placed across UK to honor trans history: “Always been here. Always will be.”

Today marks the start of the U.K.’s first-ever Trans+ History Week, which celebrates the history of trans, nonbinary, gender-conforming, and intersex people. Launched by the organization QueerAF, the initiative will include a series of billboards displayed across major U.K. cities that declare in all caps, “Always been here. Always will be.”

Marty Davies, the founder of Trans+ History Week, told Pink News they got the idea after learning about Nazi book burnings that targeted trans texts.

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“Exactly a year ago, I found out I’d been denied important history about myself and my community,” they said. “Learning that one of the most famous Nazi book burnings was at a trans clinic was a huge surprise to me. But it made me wonder why – if it’s an image we all saw in school, what else was denied to us?”

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In an essay for QueerAF, Davis wondered what it would have meant for them to learn about this history in school.

“Perhaps if my class and I had learned that the Nazis had targeted what is understood to be the world’s first Trans+ clinic. That it was host to one of the first of these infamous incidents, maybe it would have sent us a signal? That attacking the Trans+ community leaves you on the wrong side of history.”

“Perhaps I would have been able to embrace my gender identity as a child. Perhaps I would have felt able to share that with my friends or found community and solidarity with other Trans+ kids.”

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Denying people their history, Davies told Pink News, also denies them their humanity. “If we deny people their history, we deny them their humanity. Writing about this moment set me on a path to learn more and make our history accessible to everyone.”

Davies also emphasized the importance of trans folks being able to tell their own stories, as people are always talking about them but rarely listening to them. “We have created space for all of us to stand joyfully in our present with our hands wrapped around our past. Using this knowledge to steel us as we carve out a better future.”

In addition to the billboard campaign, the week includes a series of events featuring trans creatives. In March, QueerAF also launched an educational workbook. Interested folks can also subscribe to receive a history article every day for the week.

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