Category Archives: Education

TGEA receives Brother Help Thyself Award

The LGBT charitable group Brother Help Thyself on Jan. 20 presented grants totaling $75,000 to 34 non-profit organizations serving the LGBT and HIV/AIDS communities in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore region.

BHT presented the grant awards in a ceremony held at the Baltimore Eagle, a gay bar in Baltimore, in which Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and Maryland Department of Health official Jeffrey Hitt attended.

“The story isn’t that BHT gave out $75,000 today,” said BHT’s grant reception chairman. “The story here is that in the era we find ourselves in today, where our freedoms and rights, and healthcare choices are being threatened, these 34 non-profits, without our help, are out there each day and every day fighting to preserve and defend those rights and freedoms in support of our community,” he said.

Among the other awardees, Transgender Education Association of Greater Washington received a $1,460 award.

Link to the washingtonblade.com/ story

February 2nd Friday Meeting – Fri Feb 9

This gathering provides a safe space of connection, peer-facilitated trans support and community building. We are open to those in gender transition, considering the possibility (even remotely), or those who have completed transition (however the individual may define that), and to anyone anywhere along the gender spectrum, whether static or dynamic. Significant Others, Friends, Family, and Allies are welcome to attend.
Second Friday is composed of three sub-groups: Main, Parents, Tweens & Teens. All groups gather in the main Sanctuary at 7 PM on the second Friday of each month. Please join us on Friday, 9 February starting at 7 pm.

January 2nd Friday Meeting – Fri Jan 12

This gathering provides a safe space of connection, peer-facilitated trans support and community building. We are open to those in gender transition, considering the possibility (even remotely), or those who have completed transition (however the individual may define that), and to anyone anywhere along the gender spectrum, whether static or dynamic. Significant Others, Friends, Family, and Allies are welcome to attend.
Second Friday is composed of three sub-groups: Main, Parents, Tweens & Teens. All groups gather in the main Sanctuary at 7 PM on the second Friday of each month. Please join us on Friday, 12 January starting at 7 pm.

December 2ND FRIDAY MEETING – FRI Dec 8

This gathering provides a safe space of connection, peer-facilitated trans support and community building. We are open to those in gender transition, considering the possibility (even remotely), or those who have completed transition (however the individual may define that), and to anyone anywhere along the gender spectrum, whether static or dynamic. Significant Others, Friends, Family, and Allies are welcome to attend.
Second Friday is composed of three sub-groups: Main, Parents, Tweens & Teens. All groups gather in the main Sanctuary at 7 PM on the second Friday of each month. Please join us on Friday, Dec 8th starting at 7 pm. It is also the annual Pot Luck – bring a small dish or desert to share

TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE 2017


The MCC NoVA TransFormation Ministry, in partnership with TGEA, and the UUCF, is organizing and co-sponsoring the 9th Annual Northern Virginia Interfaith Trans Day of Remembrance Service on 20 November at 7 pm at the UU Congregation of Fairfax. The Transgender Day of Remembrance occurs annually on November 20, and is a day to memorialize those who have been killed over the previous year as a result of transphobia, or the hatred or fear of transgender and gender non-conforming people. This event also serves to bring attention to the continued violence endured by the trans* communities, especially those who exist on the margins. On average, for the past few years, there have been two such murders in this country every month. Nearly half of these murders go unsolved. If you would like to help support or participate in this service in any way, please contact:
RevEmmaChattin@gmail.com
*Embraces a continuum of gender variation and expression.

The 9th Annual Northern Virginia Interfaith
Trans* Day of Remembrance Service will be held:
Monday, November 20, 7:00 PM
at The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax
2709 Hunter Mill Road Oakton, VA

Transgender Lobby Day – 2017

Three TGEA board members, Randi Johnson, Chaiya Mohanty Ortiz, and Sarah Huggins (pictured above, from left to right) attended Transgender Lobby Day on June 8th and 9th, sponsored by the National Center for Transgender Equality. They met with the staff of their Congressmen and also of Senators Kaine and Warner. In addition to sharing their personal stories, they spoke on the importance of the Equality Act (H.R. 2282; S.1006), the End of Racial Profiling Act (H.R. 1498), and concern and opposition over the American Health Care Act (H.R. 1628). We, in Northern Virginia, are fortunate to have legislators who support the LGBT community. In all, attendees came from 40 states and included many parents of transgender youth. The transgender community and allies are making sure our voices are heard on Capitol Hill!

TGEA Discusses Transgender Medical Issues with California Nursing Students and Providers

On a recent trip to California, TGEA Board Member Sarah Huggins had the opportunity to mix outreach with vacation time when she provided her insights of transgender medical issues to first-year medical students at Orange County’s Saddleback College, and also to the medical and administrative staff at the College Hospital of Costa Mesa.
The events were arranged by Sarah’s sister-in-law, Dr. Barbara Huggins, who is the Department Co-Chair of Nursing for Saddleback College. Sarah addressed questions from both groups as they sought to understand more deeply some of the medical issues many in the transgender community face, and how best to provide a more supportive environment for the transgender community they serve.
Read the full article here

TGEA presentation to class at Georgetown University

On April 7, 2017, TGEA was invited to make a presentation to a class at Georgetown University during a seminar series in Transgender Issues organized by Dr. Kathleen Guidroz. The course is based on a growing field of transgender/ transsexual (or “trans”) studies, starting with the ideas that individuals are born into a society whereby gender is socially constructed. The course discusses transgender identity and gender expression by challenging the gender binary. TGEA President and board member, Randi Johnson, attended the class in early April and presented her transition experience as they discussed emotional issues and resilience.
Read more here

Press Release – Title IX

For the safety of our transgender students – Fairfax, VA, March 1, 2017

On Wednesday, February 22, 2017, schools received a “Dear Colleague” letter jointly issued from the Department of Justice and the US Department of Education explaining a new interpretation of Title IX, which affects all public schools within the US that receive federal funding. Under the previous administration, Title IX’s protection from discrimination based on sex was interpreted to protect students based on their gender identity. However, that interpretation has now changed and the Education Department and the Department of Justice will allow states to decide to what extent this new interpretation will affect transgender students. This interpretation increases the fears that transgender students, and their families, have for their safety in an environment that now emboldens further bullying and threats.
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