Women’s history month is a time of celebration. 

Brianna Burgos a Northern Essex Community College student describes it as a way “to put a spotlight on the women that have been overlooked on their struggles, their accomplishments.” 

According to the National Women’s History Museum the month started out as a week and was officially recognized in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter. 

With more vocal advocates and representation, the question of who should be included and recognized during Women’s History month has been debated. 

Burgos believes that “Trans women have every right to advocate for women’s voices and protest against violence and hate crimes that target all women.” 

In this spirit it is important to highlight activists like Laverne Cox, an openly transgender actress, has brought representation to the screen for many trans women in the LGBT+ community. 

Trans people have struggled finding representation in media, but activists like Laverne Cox make the possibility of equity possible.  

In an interview with NPR’s Noel King, Cox talked about how important representation is, and she pointed out the difference between just being seen and being represented. She said, “Trans people have always been seen, but we’ve not always been represented, right? And in the being seen and being visible, we’ve often been misrepresented.”  

This idea of being seen and being represented is important and not something that is solely reserved to the LGBT+ community. It brings to mind portrayals of Lennie from “Of Mice and Men” or Bo from “To Kill a Mockingbird.” 

Just because someone sheds light on a marginalized group does not mean that they are being accurately portrayed let alone represented.  

Cox continued in the interview to liken trans representation to how blackness has been portrayed. 

Cox, said, “We’ve often been stereotyped and stigmatized and pathologized and sensationalized in film. So we’ve always been there. But the way – just like depictions of blackness have always been, their depiction of folks along a gender spectrum have always existed in films. But representation that is authentic, that is about the real lived experiences of trans people have not always been there.”  

This representation of minority or marginalized groups isn’t something that is important simply for those communities, but it is part of history as a society. 

Cox said, “It is a story of a system that consciously and unconsciously oppressed us.” Enough in the world divides people. Burges said, “whether transgender or cisgender, we live in a world where we share a common struggle.”