Transgender Day of Visibility
Happy Transgender Day of Visibility! Celebrated every March 31st, the day is a chance to celebrate, empower, and show intentional love to transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive folks.
The day is more important than ever. For the past several years, we’ve experienced a rise in anti-trans propaganda and rhetoric. We are just 90 days into 2023, and the trend is only getting stronger.
Record numbers of anti-trans bills have been introduced and passed this year.
State legislatures are banning drag shows, books, and gender-affirming health care at alarming rates.
Trans youth are experiencing severe mental health consequences from witnessing their humanity being publicly debated and diminished.
And through all of this, trans people and their loved ones have been fighting. They have been leading. They have been sacrificing. They have been living and they have been loving.
And, I have to imagine, they are tired.
I’m tired, and I don’t have to wake up every morning to try to convince strangers that I am a person as deserving of dignity and respect as they are.
Because the trans community needs more than visibility, trans activists Chase Strangio and Raquel Willis started the Trans Week of Visibility and Action to highlight the need for action and power building. Their website and Instagram have information to help us educate (ourselves and others) and advocate (locally, statewide, and nationally). Each day this week had a theme, with accompanying educational information and action steps.
If you are a cisgender person like me, I implore you to stand with trans people in this fight. Not just today. Not just during Pride Month. But every day, in multiple ways.
Use the pronouns other people want you to, even if you don’t care about the pronouns people use for you. And even if you don’t understand why pronouns matter. Doing this doesn’t take anything away from you and means a lot to them.
Listen to trans people, and amplify their voices. Read books by trans authors (I highly recommend Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe). Follow trans activists on social media (Chase Strangio and Schuyler Bailar are some of my go-tos). Read articles by trans journalists (like Katelyn Burns, Parker Molloy, and Evan Urquhart).
Learn more about the history of anti-trans legislation. Look for the actual motivations and not just the stated goals (which are often based on misleading information or outright lies).
Remember, you don’t have to understand someone else’s journey to respect their humanity and dignity.
And to trans people, and especially trans youth, on this Transgender Day of Visibility - know that you are wonderful and you are loved.
