What is Transgender Day of Visibility?
Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) is intended to celebrate the identities of transgender people as well as bring awareness to the social inequities that the trans community faces. It is observed every year on March 31st.
How do we celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV)?
- Inspire others through visibility
- Educate cis people how to be better allies
- Celebrate how far we’ve come in our own transition
- Mourn those our community has lost
- Acknowledge the work that has yet to be done to achieve liberation
1. Inspire
First and foremost TDOV has the power to inspire those earlier in their transition or haven’t even come out yet. For me visibility was the reason I got the courage to transition in the first place.
Back in 2018 I was obsessed with Kim Petras whom I discovered was trans. I couldn’t believe how beautiful she was! Not only that but to see her thriving in the music industry, making bubblegum pop music as an openly trans woman got the wheels turning in my brain.
I thought wow, seeing this girl able to make a name for herself while being openly trans, maybe I can do it too. It wasn’t just Kim though, other influencers I followed at the time were also inspirational when it came to my transition.
Dara who was a model at the time but is now the fashion director of Interview Magazine. Model, Ariel Nicholson, Actress/Model Hunter Schafer, and Actress Hari Nef were also a huge part of me getting the courage to transition.
I have these girls to thank within my own transition, without seeing them thrive I don’t know if I would be here today whether as Aria or at all.
2. Educate
Unfortunately we live in a world where transphobia is heavily engrained into our social fabric. Growing up and still to this day, trans women are often times the butt of a joke. Whether that’s in TV, Movies, or stand up comedy (not just Dave Chapelle who I’m convinced is a chaser btw).
Being openly trans means begrudgingly we do have to be a teacher for a lot of cis people. But there’s power in that, we have the power to change peoples perception of what it means to be trans. Even if it’s just one person at a time, it makes a difference.
3. Celebrate
The happiest part of this day is celebrating ourselves and one another. If you haven’t already, express gratitude for your body. As it is a sacred vessel that takes you through the motions of transitioning. Express gratitude for where you are in your transition now, how far you’ve come since you started.
Being trans is a spiritual experience that most people will never be able to understand. While the journey itself can be painful, emerging on the other side speaks into our strength. I think this is the most beautiful part of the transgender experience.
4. Mourn
Airing on the more complicated side of things, with visibility comes vulnerability. And some of us are more vulnerable than others. As we know trans women of color face some of the highest rates of discrimination.
With this comes inequitable access to resources, leading to poverty, lower rates of employment, working jobs that are higher risk, having a lower quality of life, struggles with mental health, and in turn being more susceptible to a premature death.
We as a collective have higher rates of depression with 81% of trans individuals having struggled with suicidal ideation at some point and 42% having actually attempted to take their own lives, according to a study conducted by the UCLA Williams Institute.
This is is also a time to mourn our elders, those who fought for us and died prematurely. Those who were murdered in cold blood whether as a hate crime, a domestic issue, or both.
To also acknowledge those who died during the AIDS epidemic. Which by the way some of these communities in New York are still reeling from.
There has been a lot of premature deaths in our community, so please take the time to acknowledge those who have come before you. Those who are no longer with us. And yourself for continuing their legacy. You owe it to yourself and to the community to keep living. You are inherently precious
I have a blog post here discussing the ways I show myself love after having a low day.
5. Acknowledge
How far we’ve come as a community, from being publicly ridiculed and having to pass in order to be integrated into society. To actually be able to build a life for ourselves, to have protections against discrimination in the workplace.
To have insurance be able to cover our gender affirming surgeries. To be casted in TV, movies, fashion shows. To build successful careers in business, tech, finance, whatever we decide. Parts of our community have more autonomy than ever before.
Those of us who are lucky enough to live in a big city or a blue state may have a higher quality of life (though not always). This also is a time to acknowledge how far we’ve yet to go. As I write this article there are currently 434 active bills legislating against trans people.
Unfortunately our existence has become a matter of politics, whether or not we should be allowed to exist at all in some circumstances.
Not all of us are able to celebrate TDOV openly, which goes to show the work that needs to be done.
None of us are liberated until all of us are liberated.
