Simone Jo
International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDoV) is honoured every year on March 31st.
It is a time to celebrate transgender people around the globe and the courage it takes to live openly and authentically, whilst also raising awareness around the discrimination transgender community still face. Transgender people come from all walks of life. We are your colleagues, friends, family, acquaintances and neighbours. We come in all ages, from your children to your grandparents. We have been around since the dawn of man. We are a diverse community representing all racial, ethnic, faith, class, gender, occupations, differences in skills and abilities, personality traits, and values and attitudes.
Why is TDoV so important?
TDoV was created 2010 by trans advocate Rachel Crandall to recognize the accomplishments of the transgender and gender non-conforming community and to bring attention to the struggles they still endure. The trans community, often have little positive exposure to individuals that have been successful. These successful people that look like them, sound like them, share something in common.
Visibility in the media is minimal (more often negative) despite this, more people are saying they know a transgender individual
In many cases, an individual’s minority status is clear but with transgender individuals, the fact that they are a gender minority is not always obvious. They may have transitioned medically, and as a result, are not easily identified as Trans. You would not know they were a gender minority unless they chose to disclose that to you. Such disclosures are not always forthcoming, and for good reason, because disclosure can result in significant consequences. That risk is an important distinction from other minority groups.
If a transgender individual spends many years trying to cope with the distress and pain of conflicting gender identities, when they get to their “final” point in their gender transition, they might simply want to enjoy the fact that the pain is over. They may not wish to share their story with anyone and that is perfectly ok. The opposite can also be true.
When that individual gets to a point in their transition, they are happy and comfortable with, why not celebrate it? This day gives them the opportunity to just to that.
Neither of these realities are wrong. There is value in both.
Some may consider themselves as out, loud and proud, take part in activism, push for equal rights, being at the forefront of change. Others go and live their lives in solitude, happy they have come through. Others will be somewhere in between.
You can’t help but notice in the last few years that there has been small vocal minority of people, whose voice has been amplified by the Media and the Government that are very hostile towards the transgender community , not only here but abroad too.
We have become part of a “Culture War”. Transgender medical care is coming under immense scrutiny, particularly for the transgender youth. The bureaucratic changes to the Gender Recognition Act to make the life of a trans person a little bit easier with the correct birth certificate in their acquired gender has stalled. (Many countries have already done this change with little or no impact on society). Add to that, social media which has become a very hostile place for trans people.
The good news is that if you know a Trans person , you are generally more supportive of them.
Therefore, you may see a few more trans flags flying around the country than last year.
This shows we have come a long way in the last few years.
Yet there is so much more left to do.
https://www.hrc.org/resources/international-transgender-day-of-visibility
