International Transgender day of Visibility will be marked by Trans* Education and Advocacy and Transgender Equality Network Ireland.

Trans* Education and Advocacy (TEA) is marking the day by staging a protest outside RTE at 7:30pm this evening, while Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) is relaunching it’s STAD Campaign.

The TEA protest was sparked, in part, by RTÉ’s new comedy show The Centre which has received heavy criticism for it’s portrayal of a transgender character in receipt of hormone treatment.

Organiser Deirdre O’Byrne said, “It is wrong to make jokes about the suffering of others. And that was just one of the problems with this show. Most trans people regularly hear strangers making crude jokes about us as we go about our daily business, which is very intimidating. We are now facing into weeks of such jokes about us on our televisions. We fear the show will embolden those who like to pass such comment on us.

“We call on RTÉ to cancel this show, as it is socially highly irresponsible, and it has a detrimental effect on the mental health of many citizens. As trans people, we are well capable of laughing at ourselves, but ridiculing our suffering and our identities, and broadcasting the kinds of crude jokes many use to try and intimidate us, just isn’t funny.”

TENI are marking the day with the relaunch of their STAD Campaign,  to encourage victims of transphobia to report incidents. The campaign will use this information to raise awareness of transphobia within An Garda Siochána and to advocate for hate crime legislation the protects trans people.