| Transgender Day of Visibility | |
|---|---|
 Presenters on stage at the 2016 Trans Day of Visibility celebration in San Francisco | |
| Observed by | Transgender community and supporters |
| Type |
|
| Date | March 31 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| First time | 2009; 16 years ago (2009) |
| Related to | Transgender Awareness Week,Transgender Day of Remembrance,International Non-Binary People's Day |
International Transgender Day of Visibility, often simplyTrans Day of Visibility (often shortened online asTDOV), is anannual event dedicated to celebratingtransgender peopleraising awareness ofdiscrimination faced by transgender people, and acknowledging their contributions to society. The first International Transgender Day of Visibility was held on March 31, 2009,[1][2] and has since been spearheaded by the U.S.-based youth advocacy organizationTrans Student Educational Resources.[3]
The event was created by transgender activist[4]Rachel Crandall Crocker ofMichigan in 2009[5] as a reaction to the lack ofLGBTQ+ recognition of transgender people, citing the frustration that the only well-known transgender-centered day was theTransgender Day of Remembrance, which mourned the murders of transgender people, but did not acknowledge and celebrate living members of the transgender community.
In 2014, the day was observed byactivists across the world, including inIreland[6] andScotland.[7]
In 2015, many transgender individuals participated in an onlinesocial media campaign on websites includingFacebook,Twitter,Tumblr, andInstagram. Participants postedselfies, personal stories, and statistics regarding transgender issues and other related content toraise awareness and increase visibility.[8]
In 2021, U.S. PresidentJoe Biden proclaimed March 31 as a Transgender Day of Visibility, stating in part, "I call upon all Americans to join in the fight for full equality for all transgender people." Biden was the first American president to issue a formal presidential proclamation recognizing the event.[9][10][11] Biden issued a similar proclamation a year later, welcomingJeopardy! contestant and transgender womanAmy Schneider to the White House and announcing a set of measures intended to supporttransgender rights.[12][13]
2024 marked the 15th anniversary of Transgender Day of Visibility with celebrations planned across the globe.[14][15][16] Conservative pundits derided President Biden'sproclamation of the day[17] as an attack on Christianity, due to it coinciding withEaster Sunday that particular year.[18]
On February 6, 2025, PresidentDonald Trump issued the executive order "Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias",[19] citing the previous year's Transgender Day of Visibility as a reason for the order's creation. Later, in October 2025, the Trump administration featured an unrelated image of a toplessRose Montoya on the official White House website, pointing out that the 2024 event took place during Easter of that same year.[20] The photo of Montoya was taken during a 2023 pride event at the White House.[21]
Over the years, Transgender Day of Visibility has had proponents and critics.
Supporters of TDOV have organized a variety of responsive events. In 2024, for instance, AP reported on marches inMelbourne and Philadelphia, an "inclusiveroller derby" on Long Island, and a picnic in a small English town. Some places have been lit up withtrans flag colors, such asNiagara Falls.[22]
To advocates of TDOV, visibility enables trans people to experience less social isolation, it "illuminates and normalizes them to the rest of the world" and it buildsempathy from the cisgender majority.[23] The day is seen as a way to honor elders to trans communities, according toShelby Chestnut of theTransgender Law Center, and "visibility means having the power and the ease to show up as all of who you are at any given moment," perTourmaline.[24]
Similarly, a trans activist originally fromBelize told UNAIDS, "Visibility is power. Only when given visibility can we raise our voices and advocate for the enjoyment of our human rights." A trans interviewee fromThailand argued that TDOV could educate the public about the needs, including health care and employment.[25]
Also, TDOV highlights the importance of showing trans people having vibrant and full lives, especially during periods of violence against the trans community, as Black trans Minneapolis city councilorAndrea Jenkins asserted in 2021, "We don't want to just wallow in this, [...] We also want to acknowledge the reality that our lives are beautiful and matter."[26]
Effort to increase trans visibility have been criticized by Blackabolitionists, who believe facile inclusion of trans persons in popular culture "leads to flattened understandings of Black trans life" and may endanger Black trans people. As abolitionistMiss Major Griffin-Gracy stated in 2019, "I don't really understand why we need a day of visibility, when for most of us, especially us Black girls, we are as visible as we need to be. Our visibility is getting us killed."[27]
Similarly, some scholars argue that over-exposure of trans people can result inerasure, by virtue of perpetuatingstereotypes or reducing people to statistical measures.[27] Besides the paradox of visibility as a physical risk, others question whether TDOV is offering a "sanitized image of transgender people" that reinstantiates socioeconomic and racial exclusions.[28]
In 2024, TDOV coincided with the Christian holiday ofEaster that year. U.S. President Biden's support of TDOV was condemned by someChristian Republicans, which caused a brief political "controversy, which has galvanized conservatives and which transgender advocates say is manufactured."[29][30][31]
