{"id":119282,"date":"2021-03-31T18:20:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T18:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=119282"},"modified":"2021-03-31T18:20:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T18:20:45","slug":"the-history-behind-international-transgender-day-of-visibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/business\/the-history-behind-international-transgender-day-of-visibility\/","title":{"rendered":"The history behind International Transgender Day of Visibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was published in partnership with The 19th, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rachel Crandall-Crocker, the creator of International Transgender Day of Visibility, wanted people to have a moment of happiness. So she made a Facebook post encouraging people to organize\u00a0festivities in their hometowns and started messaging accounts from all over the world \u2014 it was worth a shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d been wanting there to be a special day for us for a long time,\u201d she recalled. \u201cAnd I was waiting and waiting for someone else to do it. And then finally I said, \u2018I\u2019m not waiting anymore. I\u2019m going to do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rachel Crandall-Crocker started International Transgender Day of Visibility, which is celebrated each March 31. (Photo: Provided by Rachel Crandall-Crocker)<\/span><\/p>\n

It was 2009, and at the time, the only annual event that most transgender communities had was nothing to celebrate. In 1998,\u00a0Rita Hester, a Black transgender women in Boston, was brutally stabbed in her own apartment. Transgender women were tired of being targets and done being dismissed by the press, which misgendered Hester. They marched through Hester\u2019s neighborhood, and Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), a day honoring transgender homicide victims, was born.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Crandall-Crocker sometimes attended the community funeral. She felt it was important. But when she did, it left her depressed for up to a week afterward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted a day that we can celebrate the living, and I wanted a day that all over the world we could be all together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

So Crandall-Crocker, who had lost a marriage when she came out and a job as a psychotherapist when she transitioned, decided to create the day herself. March 31 would be International Transgender Day of Visibility.<\/p>\n

The date wasn\u2019t significant as much as it was convenient. It was far enough away from TDOR in November and Pride Month in June that it wouldn\u2019t conflict with either. From her home in Michigan, she organized a panel just outside of Detroit. Maybe people would come or see the Facebook post and hold their own events, she thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Crandall-Crocker now talks about those early days with near disbelief. Millions of people now recognize March 31 as a day to celebrate transgender people worldwide. Every major LGBTQ\u00a0rights organization recognizes Transgender Day of Visibility with community gatherings, panels and celebrations.\u00a0Skyscrapers across the nation\u00a0light up with light pink, blue and white \u2014 transgender pride colors \u2014 on the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cTransgender Day of Visibility is a spark of hope,\u201d said Nia Clark, a Black trans woman. \u201cIt\u2019s just signaling to others that we are here and there are more than just one of you \u2026 that there are resources out there, that there are people in existence who also would just like you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Transgender people and allies made posters in honor of the Transgender Day of Visibility, celebrated March 31. (Photo: Tatiana Sanchez\/The Desert Sun)<\/span><\/p>\n

Clark, 37, works as a child welfare consultant and is a\u00a0Point Foundation scholar, a prestigious LGBTQ\u00a0college program. Because she works with kids, she was nervous to be out as a trans. But two years ago on Transgender Day of Visibility, she posted about her own journey coming out as trans on social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just remember the outpouring of support from others who I\u2019d never really talked to,\u201d she said. \u201cOne thing about trans folks is sometimes we are so afraid to even talk about our gender identity with cisgender friends.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Work ahead:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>These transgender people transitioned during COVID and are bracing for a return to the office<\/span><\/p>\n

Andrea Jenkins, vice president of the Minneapolis City Council and the first out Black trans elected official in the country, says those conversations about trans people living vibrant and full lives are critical, especially in this moment. Jenkins notes that 44 transgender people were murdered in 2020, the highest number ever recorded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to just wallow in this,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cWe also want to acknowledge the reality that our lives are beautiful and matter. Then, the less people are able to say, \u2018Oh, I don\u2019t know a trans person or I don\u2019t think people need to recognize the humanity of trans and gender non-conforming people.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Transgender Day of Visibility comes at a particularly trying moment for gender diverse people in the United States. More than 80\u00a0anti-trans bills\u00a0are pending in state legislatures, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Most of those bills would limit trans youth from playing sports and accessing affirming medical care.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For many trans kids, their first introduction to transgender community had long been a day honoring transgender murder victims. While it was a time of gathering, it was also a stark reminder that living as trans often came with an expiration date.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTDOR is always far more emotionally significant, more poignant, because so many trans women, especially Black trans women, succumb to violence, knowing that the life expectancy of a Black trans woman is 35,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n

But Transgender Day of Visibility gave kids another narrative to grow into, advocates say.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Coachella Valley LGBT equality advocates participate in 2015's Transgender Day of Visibility. (Photo: File photo)<\/span><\/p>\n

Esm\u00e9e Silverman, 19, is a high school senior in southeastern Massachusetts, the same state where Hester\u2019s murder inspired Transgender Day of Remembrance. Still, she learned about Transgender Day of Visibility before she knew of the day\u2019s more somber cousin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Silverman was 17 at the time, not fully out in her community, and her school\u2019s Gay Straight Alliance was celebrating the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI sort of was just like, \u2018Wow, this is something that we need to uplift and celebrate more of because if there\u2019s a there is a day like this and if other trans people feel like the way I felt when I didn\u2019t have any support, then this day needs to be uplifted,\u2019\u201d Silverman said.\u00a0 \u201cEverybody deserves to be visible, including trans people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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