Trans people need more than visibility—we need action!
Today is International Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) – a complicated day for many trans people. Visibility can mean being seen and understood, but it can also mean being vulnerable, unsafe, and threatened. This is particularly true as trans and nonbinary people are facing such a tidal wave of anti-trans sentiment, legislation, policy, and media coverage, most prominently in the US and UK, but also throughout the world. These threats to the well-being and very existence of trans and nonbinary people can make visibility dangerous and completely inaccessible. This means that people may not “come out” as trans or nonbinary or they may try to hide their transness in any number of ways. First and foremost we want to say to our trans and nonbinary community – no matter how visible you can be or want to be – you are trans and you are loved and we’ve got your back.
For many of us who are very visibly trans and/or nonbinary, visibility is not enough. It has nearly been ten years since Laverne Cox was the subject of Time Magazine’s infamous article “The Transgender Tipping Point” in 2014 and it feels like we’ve reached the opposite tipping point–the other end of the bell curve. We are not only heading backward, but further past that tipping point to a place even more actively hostile toward and deadly for trans and nonbinary people. Visibility only goes so far and if we don’t move from visibility to action, we will continue falling back down the curve.
For this reason, many have called for changes to the way we recognize TDOV to include action, resistance, and more. Because these things are necessary. Because these things come for other people, but rarely for us. Because we can no longer stand to watch our friends, siblings, partners, families, and community members struggle, flounder, hurt, and die. We refuse to idly let someone’s life be destroyed or ended simply because they are different; simply because they chose a life of freedom, self-love, and trans joy.
We’re at the opposite tipping point right now. We must find a way to stop this momentum before we reach the point of no return. And it is coming, whether or not you choose to ignore it. We beg you–don’t ignore it–our lives are worth so much more than your comfort.
One of the many ways you can join the movement to push back against this surge of anti-trans violence and sentiment is by supporting for trans, by trans organizations such as MTPC. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for to get involved—join us now!
