To honour this day, Catherine reflects on what Trans Day of Remembrance means to her.
“I was pretty lucky during my transition, as I always had amazing support from my friends and family throughout. So the difficult part for me was coming out at work, and the support from Prism (our employee resource group for LGBTQ+ employees and allies) and outside of work helped me make that change. But many other trans people aren’t as lucky.
Transgender Day of Remembrance highlights the many lives lost each year due to anti-transgender cruelty. Even if deaths from violence are becoming less common, there is enough cruelty and misunderstanding remaining in our world that more trans people are still choosing to take their own lives. And sometimes even good intentioned people can make life more difficult for trans people. So I joined the Prism committee to offer my guidance and support to those still making that journey. I acknowledge that humans are naturally curious but reluctant to ask certain questions for fear of being rude. I try to provide safe spaces for allies to learn about what it is to be transgender and allow them to ask those awkward questions and dispel the myths.”
Rolls-Royce are proud to have signed up to Trans Rights Are Human Rights alongside many of our UK-based customers and partners, in support of trans equality in the UK. Everybody has the right to be themselves without fear and we are honoured to support our trans colleagues, employees and customers globally. Thank you to our colleagues for sharing their reflections.