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Visibility is a contentious subject in the trans community, and today’s Trans Day of Visibility — founded in 2009 by activist Rachel Crandall-Crocker to celebrate trans lives and joy, in contrast to the somber memorial of Trans Day of Remembrance — has become a day about which many bear mixed emotions. This year, those feelings are sharper than ever, as we feel the conservative backlash to trans visibility in transphobic laws and violence across the U.S. and abroad.
But TDOV is also another day to take action against those who want to stifle trans voices. Today also marks the end of Trans Week of Visibility and Action, as activists Raquel Willis and Chase Strangio close out a week of state-by-state direct action campaigns with a major fundraising drive for numerous trans-led organizations, with donations matched up to $1.5 million by pop star Ariana Grande.
That’s far from the only thing happening on this eventful TDOV, though. Here are the major highlights for this year’s event:
- The Biden administration unleashed a wave of announcements for initiatives aimed at fighting anti-trans legislation and providing more resources for trans and queer Americans. The administration’s Department of Health and Human Services unveiled a new “LGBTQI+ Health and Wellbeing” website dedicated to providing mental and physical health resources to trans and queer Americans, and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra urged trans people who have been discriminated against to contact the department’s office of civil rights.
- Beginning April 11, per the Department of State, “X” gender markers will be available on U.S. passports for nonbinary citizens. This announcement was made last year, but this is the first time a solid date has been set for the change.
- Trans airplane passengers who live in fear of the TSA may finally breathe a sigh of relief: the Department of Homeland Security is phasing out the agency’s old body scanners, which flagged anatomical “anomalies” based on binary gender guidelines and resulted in innumerous, unnecessary patdowns for trans people. The TSA (which also announced it will streamline its identity verification procedures to better serve trans passengers) will begin installing “new, more accurate technology” in airports later this year — so the scanning itself will still happen, but hopefully fewer false flags will improve everyone’s experience and let TSA agents keep their gloves to themselves.
- The Department of Education announced it will soon provide “new training for schools with experts and school leaders” so staff can better support trans and nonbinary youth — a move that seems designed to fly in the face of laws like Florida’s now-infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
- The Social Security Administration will no longer require trans people to show a doctor’s note to confirm a change of gender, allowing greater access to retirement funds and resources, especially for those who transition later in life.
- Trans visitors to the White House campus will also find they now have the option of an “X” gender marker for their passes. She and her fiance probably won’t exercise that right, but Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider is also visiting the Biden White House today as the President commemorates her history-making run on the quiz show.
- Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) announced that they have sent letters (cosigned by twelve other members of Congress) to Facebook, Visa, Discover, Paypal, and Instacart urging each company to reform their various policies which require users or customers to publicly display their legal names, informing them of the hazards of deadnaming. “Displaying a transgender individual’s deadname on their profiles can ‘out’ or reveal that person’s gender identity and sexual orientation without their consent,” the letters read, “which can endanger their safety and even their life.”
- In addition to raising matched funds for groups around the country, Willis and Strangio’s Trans Week of Visibility and Action campaign is also targeting South Carolina on its final day. Supporters are urged to pressure SC lawmakers on bills that threaten trans students’ participation in athletics, and to give to local organizations like We Are Family.
- TikTok is highlighting trans creators, models, and activists on its official account today with several guest appearances, beginning with lifestyle vlogger Devin Halbal at 6 p.m. PST. The platform will also feature Black trans supermodel Emira D’Spain and representatives from the It Gets Better Project.
Of course, the most important part of TDOV each year is that trans people celebrate ourselves, one another, and our collective resiliency. It’s a rough time to be a gender minority, but our community won’t falter, no matter how many prying eyes are on us. After all, if they can’t look away, we must be doing something right.
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