On International Women's Day, it's especially important that no one gets left out or marginalized.
As people of all genders gathered together in person and on social media to discuss the importance of women and women's rights, many made it a point to highlight the importance of standing with and fighting for transgender women.
On Wednesday, the organizers of January's Women's March on Washington gathered with protesters outside Trump Tower in New York City for #ADayWithoutAWoman, where Women's March organizer Carmen Perez affirmed the need for people to make space for transgender women to feel safe.
"We must be accountable to the ways that we still fall short in fighting gender oppression," Perez said at the gathering. "Trans women, trans men and gender-nonconforming people aren't here today because they feel unsafe. They're excluded from our spaces and in the dialogues that we have about gender. We must do better."
Perez continued, calling for the feminist movement to work toward building a more inclusive environment for trans women.
"We must work harder to include them, the way we ask to be included — as our full selves, without harassment, without discrimination and violence," she said. "We must work hard to center their voices and to let them lead us. So long as any of us are not free, none of us are free."
People of all genders on social media included messages of solidarity to transgender women and those participating in #DayWithoutAWoman, urging them not to erase transgender women from the day's messaging.
Happy International Women's Day to ALL women across ALL intersections. Especially black trans women. You are loved!!????????
trans women who continue to exist, to in any way thrive are already engaging in the boldest kind of defiance and strength tbh
Until there are more ways for trans women to exist in the media and the world than brutalised or scrutinised, it's not over
Trans women were at the forefront of the fight towards women's rights, remember that #InternationalWomensDay #protecttranswomen
if your #womensday doesn't include trans women then it ain't shit
Today, stand w all women. Immigrant women. Women of color. Disabled women. Trans women. Working women. Stay at home women. ALL women. ???????
I'm celebrating those who fight day in and day out to have every ounce of their womanhood respected. #InternationalWomensDay
i know i have a lot of followers who are young trans women, i hope you feel included today too i love u
Many also pointed to the specific challenges faced by transgender women, especially transgender women of color — including violence. In 2017 alone, seven transgender women of color have been killed.
For the trans women of color who were taken from us this year and last. Let's elevate them on #InternationalWomensDay.
International Women's Day is important for me because if you Google "trans women" right now every news story is a trans woman murdered or
ADayWithoutAWoman is not just a metaphor or slogan. Some black trans women are literally no longer here.
On Friday, in response to the five transgender homicides in February alone, protesters filled the streets of Downtown Chicago in solidarity with transgender women of color.
To highlight the contributions of transgender women of color, several people also shared pictures of many of the trans women of color who are responsible for LGBTQ rights, like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera and modern icons like Laverne Cox and Janet Mock.
This #InternationalWomensDay, I want to be sure to highlight three phenomenal trans women who set the stage for LGBT+ rights
This #InternationalWomensDay, let's appreciate some courageous, black trans women of color.
