"A world without trans people has never existed."
About Transgender Day of Visibility
Held annually on March 31, Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) is a time to celebrate transgender and non-binary people around the globe and acknowledge the determination it takes to live openly and authentically.
Transgender Day of Visibility has been held every year since its creation by trans advocate Rachel Crandall in 2010. Crandall, the head of Transgender Michigan, created TDOV as she found that media often focuses on violence against the transgender community, but not on who the transgender community is. “She hoped to create a day where people could re-focus on celebrating the lives of transgender people, empowering them to live authentically, while still acknowledging that due to discrimination, not every trans person can or wants to be visible” (Trans Day of Visibility, GLAAD).
There is no LGBTQIA+ history without trans history. Trans people have historically been on the forefront of the LGBTQIA+ rights movement. Notable trans leaders in activism include Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, who were vital in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, a major breakthrough in the fight for civil rights. In February 2025, their names, along with other references to transgender and queer people, were removed from the Stonewall National Monument’s webpage.
Ways to Support the Transgender Community
- Support the use of pronouns by understanding commonly used pronouns, using pronouns in introductions, and displaying your pronouns across various communication platforms (e.g., Email, Slack, Zoom, etc.)
- Practice using inclusive language. You can reference the GLAAD Transgender Glossary of Terms on words to use and words to avoid. In addition, check out this great Etiquette and Allyship video by local organization LexPride that cover not only inclusive language but the unconscious assumptions we may have in day-to-day interactions.
- Learn about the lived experience of the transgender and non-binary community by reading books by the community. Check out PFLAG’s Transgender Reading List for Adults.
- Identify your local LGBTQIA+ organization, follow their updates via email or social media, and participate in local events put on by the LGBTQIA+ community.
- Explore our DEIA Resources page on ways to consider inclusion from an intersectional lens. More than 45% of LGBTQIA+ adults are people of color, based on the 2022 UCLA report, How Many Adults and Youth Identify as Transgender in the United States. In addition, in a 2022 Human Rights Campaign article, “ Understanding Disability in the LGBTQ+ Community,” 52% of transgender people identified as having a disability.