What to know about Day of Visibility, designed to show the world ‘trans joy’
Sunday is International Transgender Day of Visibility, celebrated around the world to draw attention to a population group that is often ignored, belittled or victimized.
Here are things you need to know about the day.
The “day” is Sunday, but around March 31, celebrations and educational events take place over several days designed to draw attention to transgender people.
Events were planned around the world, including panels and speakers in Cincinnati and Atlanta, marches in Melbourne, Florida and Philadelphia, and an inclusive roller derby league match on New York’s Long Island. A picnic is planned in the English town of Hitchin.
Perhaps the most prominent American event is a rally scheduled for Sunday on the National Mall in Washington, DC
Major buildings and monuments in the US will be illuminated in pink, white and light blue to mark the day. Last year, the One World Trade Center in New York and Niagara Falls were set on fire.
Rachel Crandall-Crocker, executive director and co-founder of Transgender Michigan, organized the first day in 2009.
“I think once someone understands us, it’s hard to discriminate against us,” she said in an interview. “I made it because I wanted a time where we don’t have to be so lonely. I wanted a day where we are all together as one community all over the world. And that is exactly what we are.”
It is designed to contrast with Transgender Day of Remembrance, held annually on November 20 to honor the memory of transgender people killed in anti-transgender violence.
Crandall-Crocker selected the day in late March to give it space to Remembrance Day and Pride Month in June, which celebrates LGBTQ+ people of all kinds.
She plans to attend a rally in Lansing, Michigan.
Transgender people have become more visible in public life in the US and elsewhere.
There has also been a backlash from conservative officials. At least 11 states have adopted policies banning people from using gender-specific bathrooms in schools or other public buildings, 25 have banned transgender women and/or girls from participating in women’s or girls’ sports, and more than 20 have adopted a ban on gender. -affirming health care for minors. Some of the policy has been suspended by the court.
Nico Lang, author of “American Teenager: How Trans Kids are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era,” which will be released later this year, said it is important to find happiness even amid the political tumult.
“I feel like we as people — all queer people, trans people — are trying to assert our humanity right now,” says Lang, who uses they/their pronouns.
They said the day of visibility is powerful because it takes place not just on social media, but also in real life, with gatherings and potluck meals.
“We’re just living our lives,” they said.