March 31st, 2025 marks 16 years of Trans Day of Visibility (TDoV) — a day to honor the strength, brilliance, beauty and joy of trans, non-binary, and gender-expansive people everywhere.
TDoV was created to celebrate trans lives in a world that too often focuses only on our pain. While there is so much to celebrate: the creativity, resilience, thought leadership, and love that trans people continue to bring to every space we’re in, we must acknowledge the nuance of TDoV in 2025.
We are living through a time of escalating attacks on the trans community: a coordinated wave of anti-trans legislation, disinformation campaigns, and cultural fearmongering aimed at stripping us of our right to health care, dignity, autonomy, and joy. These attacks are not random, they are strategic. They exploit the fear and ignorance of the public to distract us all from deeper systemic and administrative failures. With the most significant impacts falling on those already pushed to the margins of oppression, specifically Black and Brown trans women and femmes.
It is no secret that the fight for trans lives is deeply connected to every other fight for freedom — for racial justice, for reproductive justice, for economic justice, for gender liberation, our struggles are intertwined.
In this era of political scapegoating and misinformation overload, TDoV is more vital than ever. Because visibility without safety is not liberation. Visibility without equity is not justice. We need more than visibility; we need significant improvements in the material, physical, and psychological conditions in which we live. We need staunch support from our “allies” and a true commitment to learning and understanding queer and trans history. It is no secret that the fight for trans lives is deeply connected to every other fight for freedom — for racial justice, for reproductive justice, for economic justice, for gender liberation, our struggles are intertwined. And again, none of us are free, until all of us are free.
Now is the time to stand together. In love, in truth, and unwavering solidarity. We have to call out the hate, whether it comes from the far right, from the misinformed, or those clinging to respectability politics and the violent logic of white supremacist cis-hetero patriarchy. During these times, we have to shift toward care, toward community, and toward accountability. This is the only way to build a future where trans people are not just visible, but safe, valued, and thriving.
We believe in a world where trans people live long, joyful, and liberated lives. We believe in each other. We know we can achieve this. Because genuine love, truth, and authenticity have always and will always outweigh hatred.
To be seen. To be known. To be loved. To be free…and we will keep fighting until we all are.
Resources
- Resources for Supporting the LGBTQIA2S+ Community
- List of Protests, Rallies on Trans Day of Visibility Amid Trump Backlash
- Trans Terminology Explained
- 5 Things Cis People Can Do for Trans Day of Visibility, Transgender Together
Mani Vinson, MHSA
Communications Coordinator