While it was a time of gathering, it was also a stark reminder that living as trans often came with an expiration date. Most of those bills would limit trans youth from playing sports and accessing affirming medical care.įor many trans kids, their first introduction to transgender community had long been a day honoring transgender murder victims. More than 80 anti-trans bills are pending in state legislatures, according to the Human Rights Campaign. This year’s Transgender Day of Visibility comes at a particularly trying moment for gender diverse people in the United States. Then, the less people are able to say, ‘Oh, I don’t know a trans person or I don’t think people need to recognize the humanity of trans and gender non-conforming people.’” “We also want to acknowledge the reality that our lives are beautiful and matter. “We don’t want to just wallow in this,” Jenkins said. Jenkins notes that 44 transgender people were murdered in 2020, the highest number ever recorded. TRANS VISIBILITY DAY 2021 FULL“One thing about trans folks is sometimes we are so afraid to even talk about our gender identity with cisgender friends.”Īndrea Jenkins, vice president of the Minneapolis City Council and the first out Black trans elected official in the country, says those conversations about trans people living vibrant and full lives are critical, especially in this moment. “I just remember the outpouring of support from others who I’d never really talked to,” she said. But two years ago on Transgender Day of Visibility, she posted about her own journey coming out as trans on social media. Because she works with kids, she was nervous to be out as a trans. (Photo courtesy of Rachel Crandall-Crocker)Ĭlark, 37, works as a child welfare consultant and is a Point Foundation scholar, a prestigious LGBTQ+ college program. “It’s just signaling to others that we are here and there are more than just one of you … that there are resources out there, that there are people in existence who also would just like you.” Rachel Crandall-Crocker started International Transgender Day of Visibility in 2009. “Transgender Day of Visibility is a spark of hope,” said Nia Clark, a Black trans woman. Skyscrapers across the nation light up with light pink, blue and white - transgender pride colors - on the day. Every major LGBTQ+ rights organization recognizes Transgender Day of Visibility with community gatherings, panels and celebrations. Millions of people now recognize March 31 as a day to celebrate transgender people worldwide. Maybe people would come or see the Facebook post and hold their own events, she thought.Ĭrandall-Crocker now talks about those early days with near disbelief. From her home in Michigan, she organized a panel just outside of Detroit. It was far enough away from TDOR in November and Pride Month in June that it wouldn’t conflict with either. The date wasn’t significant as much as it was convenient. They marched through Hester’s Boston neighborhood, and Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), a day honoring transgender homicide victims, was born. Transgender women were tired of being targets and done being dismissed by the press, which misgendered Hester. In 1998, Rita Hester, a Black transgender women in Boston, Massachusetts, was brutally stabbed in her own apartment. It was 2009, and at the time, the only annual event that most transgender communities had was nothing to celebrate. And then finally I said, ‘I’m not waiting anymore. “And I was waiting and waiting for someone else to do it. “I’d been wanting there to be a special day for us for a long time,” she recalled. So she made a Facebook post encouraging people to organize festivities in their hometowns and started messaging accounts from all over the world - it was worth a shot. Rachel Crandall-Crocker, the creator of International Transgender Day of Visibility, wanted people to have a moment of happiness.
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