2025 Transgender Day of Visibility

March 31st is Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV), an international day of celebration that was founded by activist and head of Transgender Michigan, Rachel Crandall,  “in response to the overwhelming majority of media stories about transgender people being focused on violence.”  The day was created to help provide the larger world with accurate information about the trans community that celebrates them, rather than exclusively speaking to stories related to violence.

TDOV especially matters now in the United States when the rights and liberties of trans individuals are undoubtedly under attack. As of this post, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is tracking 527 Anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S. that are threatening or actively harming queer and trans lives since the start of 2025. In comparison, in 2024, 533 bills were tracked.  Lawmakers across the country are taking advantage of their capacity to affect trans healthcare, provide adoption agencies the right to discriminate against trans adopters, prevent trans athletes from participating in sports, deny access to accurate IDs, and more.

The trans community is at severe risk. Visibility itself is a risk.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has stated that “being open to learning” and “having a desire to create change” are the two most important parts of allyship with the trans and gender-nonconforming community. Being open enough to read this article means you have crossed the first off your list, but if you are interested in acting on the second, here are a few ways to do so:

• Normalize inclusive and gender-neutral language

  • Have it be a normal part of a typical  introduction for you to ask a person for their pronouns, and offer yours in return.

  • Rather than using language such as “men and women”, try implementing gender neutral options like “guests” or “colleagues”.

• Talk about trans issues within your local community

  • The Movement Advancement Project has a series of research-based resources to help shape discussion and better understand key issues related to LGBTQ+ equality

• Support trans advocacy

  • The HRC has a list of grassroots organizations to offer local options for supporting trans advocacy

  • Find and contact your elected officials to encourage the people that represent you to oppose bills that discriminate against transgender people. Use scripts if you are unsure of how to make your voice heard.

Compassionate Healing supports trans voices and trans lives. If we can be of any support to you on your journey, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

If you need assistance exploring your identity or you're seeking a safe space to process your experiences, learn more about our identity exploration therapy services.