Trans Day of Visibility celebrations persist despite Trump admin attacks
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Activists and advocates participating in a Trans Day of Visibility march along King Street in Newtown on March 30 in Sydney, Australia. Photo: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
Monday marks International Transgender Day of Visibility: a day of celebration and recognition for trans and nonbinary people across the globe.
The big picture: As the Trump administration rolls back protections and civil rights for transgender Americans and threatens access to gender-affirming care, military careers, federal recognition, sports and more, the holiday and its mission is "more important this year than ever," said Rachel Crandall-Crocker, the day's founder.
- "The president ... wants us to go and hide, and he'd be happy if we all disappeared," Crandall-Crocker told Axios. "However, that is not what we're going to do."
Case in point: Trans Up Front, an Illinois-base advocacy organization whose mission is to amplify and center trans voices, honored TDOV on Sunday with 5,000-plus people marching through downtown Chicago, organizers estimated.
- "This is our first year in many, many years that we're looking at this not as just a celebration of each other, of our community, but as a gathering of support," Executive Director Asher McMaher said.
- McMaher added, "In 2025 ... we really do have to come together as one community and show that no matter what is written in an executive order, no matter what misinformation is out there, we're here."
In Atlanta, Game Changing Men — a group that focuses on erasing stigmas and barriers for trans men, particularly Black trans men — capped off a week of TDOV programming with its annual cookout Saturday.
- This year, the group stepped up security. But visibility remains critical amid attempts to erase trans stories, Executive Director Quinton Reynolds told Axios.
- "We just want to be our authentic selves," he said. "We pay taxes, we are homeowners, we are husbands, we are wives, we are parents."
Flashback: Crandall-Crocker, the executive director of Transgender Michigan and a licensed master social worker, started TDOV in 2009.
- She wanted to create a day that "celebrated the living" trans people, and within a couple of years, it became truly international and recognized by communities across the globe.
- President Biden in 2021 issued the first presidential proclamation recognizing TDOV, urging Americans to join "in uplifting the worth and dignity of every transgender person."
Friction point: But visibility can be "a double-edged sword," said Shane Diamond, GLAAD's director of communications and advocacy.
- "As we are more visible, and out and open ... we tend to see increased backlash and anti-LGBTQ+ policies, anti-transgender policies being introduced," he said.
Zoom out: A massive spike in legislation targeting the trans community has occurred in recent years at federal and state levels.
- The American Civil Liberties Union was tracking 527 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the U.S. as of March 14, including legislation redefining sex, blocking trans youth from using facilities corresponding with their gender identity and rolling back DEI initiatives
- Trump's return to the White House has also emboldened GOP lawmakers to further restrict trans rights.
- But Diamond emphasizes that "there's not a lot of meat and potatoes" to Trump's executive orders targeting trans people — some of which have been blocked amid legal challenges — which he said are "intended to scare and confuse us."
The bottom line: Amid the Trump administration's sweeping crackdown, Crandall-Crocker said trans people should unite and "be one community with one loud voice."
- On a day that seeks to celebrate trans and nonbinary accomplishments, joy and love, Crandall-Crocker said it's a "big victory just to live your honest life."
- "It may seem small ... it's not. It's a major victory."
Go deeper: Trump's transgender rights rollbacks prompt allies to adjust travel warnings
