TDOV 2023

Transgender Day of Visibility, March 31st 2023 

by RunaMorgen (Brennin)

March 31st is Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV). I’ve written several brief papers on TDOV and TDOR (trans day of remembrance) in the past, but due to the particularly grim and substantial reversal of social progress throughout this past year, this paper was much more emotionally challenging to complete than those I’ve prepared previously. 

Positive visibility is crucial for stimulating reform, enabling medical advancement, and for helping those outside the trans community to understand that we’re simply human beings as equally deserving of the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as everyone else. Only 3 months into 2023 however, over 435 anti LGBTQ bills are already in progress, and the majority of them attack the everyday lives of trans people (1). 110 of these bills threaten access to trans healthcare, while many others are restroom bans, censorship laws, and poorly worded anti-drag performance laws with potential to covertly criminalize transgender visibility itself. As of March 2023, 22.9% of transgender youth (at least 68,700 total people) have recently lost access to life-saving gender affirming care due to the passing of these aforementioned bills. An additional 27.5% of trans youth live in states where such bills are pending, and several states, including Oklahoma, Texas, and South Carolina are currently voting on outlawing trans healthcare for adults as well. Statistically, gender affirming healthcare is vital to survival, reducing suicidality by 73% (2) among a population with a staggeringly high baseline suicidality of 86% (3). According to the National Library of Medicine, over half of the trans youth still alive today have already attempted suicide, further emphasizing the harm being done by taking away the most effective and compassionate treatment in existence.

This year, trans visibility has already been marred heavily by death and countless desperate pleas in congressional chambers throughout the country, as our people beg legislators to stop taking away trans children (6) , removing access to life saving medications (7), and to stop declaring our existence as “obscene” (8) and our participation in society as harmful to other people (9). This year we must acknowledge our state of affairs while also giving accolades to some of our most outstanding community members. 

Kayleigh Scott was a high-profile trans activist who was in the public eye on Trans Day of visibility two years ago in a United Airlines commercial celebrating trans diversity. She ended her own life at the age of 25 on Monday just last week (March 2023). “Brianna, I’m coming” were her final words on social media (4). Kayleigh’s final words refer to Brianna Ghey, a 16yo transgender girl who gained international attention after she was murdered in the UK last month by her classmates for being trans. (5). In her Airlines commercial, Kayleigh passionately expressed how much better her life was after transitioning and being free to be herself. Few details of her death have been made public, but her final reference to Brianna implies strong feelings of persecution in her final moments. Even though gender affirming healthcare and social acceptance both drastically reduce suicide rates for trans people overall, this past year has been especially challenging. Public visibility can also expose someone like Kayleigh to even more hatred than what the rest of us are forced to endure. This year we honor Kayleigh for her bravery in being a public face of trans visibility, and also mourn her tragic loss and the societal pressures that impacted her life. 

Due to the rising social and legislative pressures in the US, Trans Day of Visibility 2023 is expected to be marked by widespread peaceful marches and protests. Among these events planned is a TDOV march at the US Capitol (10) organized by Queer Youth Assemble, a young trans group founded by Esmee Silverman and Cas Ford Martin in 2021. Esmee Silverman, a 20yo trans activist from Massachusetts, has been protesting anti trans bills since they graduated high school in 2021 (11). After enrolling in Reed College in Portland Oregon, Esamee has organized several nation-wide walkouts to help fight back against legislation that has targeted themself and their transgender peers. Although a disheartening amount of discriminatory bills have passed in recent years, the resistance organized by students like Esamee has undoubtedly contributed to ending the majority of such bills, and likewise helped to dampen some of the harm inflicted by those that have unfortunately been passed into law.

Also in the public eye is Schuyler Bailar, a transgender college athlete. Schuyler first gained public attention in 2016 when he joined the men's NCAA team at Harvard, making them the first men’s division I team in the nation with an openly trans contestant (12). Since then, including this past year, Schuyler has been a very active spokesman against the recent bans on transgender inclusion in athletics (9). Through various speeches across the country, Schuyler has helped to dispel widespread misinformation about trans athletes like himself, and has provided much needed accurate representation for other trans people with similar interests. Schuyler has been an especially vital voice for young transgender children. He explained in one speech,

 “Last June, I spent a few days with a handful of young trans athletes, most ranging from 6 to 12 years old. The kids ran around playing, almost carefree. Almost. Their joy was darkened by the knowledge that many would soon return home to a state where they would not be permitted to play alongside their friends – that they, due to their transness, are considered a threat. ‘This is what America is afraid of? These tiny children?’ I thought as I sat with an especially small 6-year-old trans girl who told me she was going to quit running because otherwise she would be forced to run with the boys next year.”

Being an experienced transgender athlete himself, Schuyler is able to provide an important perspective on sports that is otherwise lacking in governing bodies with the power to drastically impact the futures of young trans individuals.

Zooey Zephyr, Montana’s first elected transgender representative is another trans person who’s made a significant positive impact this year (8). In her moving heartfelt speech against Montana House Bill 359, for example, Zephyr defended her transgender constituents against legislation that would make “male or female impersonation” a crime, as well as revoke professional licenses from trans teachers, librarians, and school administrators (similar to a dangerous bill that already passed this year in Tennessee). In her testimony, Zephyr declared the anti drag bill as being “so poorly written it could be interpreted as banning trans people specifically”. When interrupted by Sue Vinton, the sponsor of the bill who claimed the bill was not intended to target trans people, Zephyr then pointed out that there was much “testimony from people who conflated drag with being trans'', and also “accused my community broadly of being pedophiles and groomers, and said so in their testimony on this bill”. She also warned the committee of the threat anti drag bills pose on pride celebrations, where drag performances are typically featured, reminding attendees, 

“Pride is a celebration of my community’s history. My community is surviving the many things that have been thrust upon us, by people who wanted to exterminate us. We lived through the AIDS epidemic. We lived through people trying to disallow our marriage. We adopted children, grew up, and now we’re taking some of our children in sharing an art form that’s valuable to our community in a way that is age appropriate to them.” 

According to some analysts, including Lamda Legal, this and similar bills facing 17 other US states based on Arkansas SB 43 would even make “two trans people going out and singing karaoke a criminal offense”. Without pioneer transgender legislators like Zooey Zephyr making their way into these legislative sessions for the first time in history, our community would be left practically defenseless against the most cruel onslaught of trans-discriminatory proposals in US history.

Leigh Finke, the first elected transgender representative in Minnesota is also serving in this year’s legislative period, and has had a similarly positive impact on opposing ongoing discrimination and securing protections for vulnerable transgender people, even helping those outside Minnesota (13). By introducing MN House file 146, which passed and was signed into law this past week, Finke countered some of the most dangerous anti-trans bills introduced by other states. This bill is especially significant because it offers state protections desperately needed by trans refugees reaching Minnesota as they flee other states. House 146 protects such refugees from interference from attempted extraditions back to trans-hostile home states that would subsequently imprison, remove the children of, or deprive individuals of healthcare simply for being transgender. This successful bill offers a deeply needed measure of reprieve and hope for many trans people throughout the entire country witnessing a rapid reversal of legal protections that took lifetimes to secure.

Another highly visible trans individual who has had a profoundly positive effect on the trans community throughout the US is Erin Reed (16). Erin’s informative daily reports have become routine for many trans people, including myself. Through both political connections and a powerful social media reach, Erin has helped to keep other trans people informed, connected, and organized. She’s also put extensive work into tracking current bills, identifying critical votes that affect the lives of transgender Americans, and publicizing key testimonies of various legislators and speakers both for and against trans rights. She’s even mapped safe and dangerous regions (17), as well as trans healthcare resources to improve the safety of everyday life for average trans people (18) . Erin Reed has indisputably become a pillar of the transgender community over the past few years and her tireless efforts continue to shape countless lives for the better.

On Trans day of visibility last year, I mentioned Kai Shappley, an 11 year old child that has been fighting for her human rights in state legislatures since she was only 5 years old (14). Unfortunately she was forced to flee her home state with her family in July last year to avoid being forcibly de-transitioned and separated from her supportive parents amid legal changes in Texas. Bills like Finke’s MN House 146 could save the lives of many trans people just like Kai Shappley, especially as more and more aggressive bills reach approval.

On a positive note, some countries like Canada are taking steps to protect the transgender refugees now fleeing persecution from places like the United States and the UK by granting asylum on the basis of protecting human rights (15). Since Cait Glasson, an LGBTQ activist from Waterloo, Ontario introduced a public petition in January to protect her international friends, she’s obtained over 135,000 signatures and the support of Green Party MP Mike Morrice. Thanks to widespread Canadian support, Cait’s proposal will reach the Canadian parliament on May 26th. Unfortunately however, many trans victims don’t have the resources to simply pack up and relocate, nor do most people want to leave everything they’ve ever known, including family and close friends behind. But in some cases the alternative is already death or prosecution.

The grueling legal war over our rights to bodily autonomy, legal recognition, and self expression is fought primarily by everyday transgender citizens who simply want to live normal, peaceful lives as their authentic selves. Being a highly misunderstood minority, heavily targeted by powerful misinformation campaigns, there are very few outside our small community who are actually willing to speak up on our behalf. This puts tremendous weight on every single transgender individual to defend one’s own humanity, sometimes on a daily basis, forcing many average, untrained trans Americans into government assemblies to give two minute speeches begging for mercy. This is something I’ve seen an awful lot of lately, especially as our situation grows more and more desperate. Some speakers are more eloquent and successful than others, and a great number of them are ignored, harassed, and severely disrespected. 

One such example of this included Gwendolyn Herzig, a transgender pharmacist who was asked inappropriate, invasive questions about her genitalia by Arkansas state senator Matt McKee when she attempted to testify against AK S.B. 199 on behalf of transgender youths fighting for access to standard trans medications. (19). A similar bill to eliminate youth access to trans medications was also pushed through a Kentucky legislature where Emma Curtis, an average local transgender woman attempted to fight back in her own two minute testimony, saying,

 “The message this bill sends to the trans community, specifically to trans children, is that they are a problem, they are an error that must be corrected. We do not see you, we do not respect you. And I want to state for the record that that is not true of the state of Kentucky.” (20) 

Although these individuals were not able to keep these deeply harmful and discriminatory bills from passing, the fact that anyone showed up at all helps to show vulnerable trans youths that they are not completely alone, that some people really do care about their future. And sometimes that’s really all transgender visibility can do, but even in those cases, such visibility still can save lives.

This year, in the commemoration of the 78th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, the German Parliament focused on the Nazi persecution of gay and transgender individuals between 1933 and 1945. In that time, trans victims were subjected to forced sterilization, barbaric medical experiments, and imprisoned at the bottom of the hierarchy in concentration camps; identified by the infamous pink triangle emblem. Baerbel Bas, the speaker of the German parliament, cited the murder of an innocent transgender man last year and stated “It is dangerous to believe that we have learned enough”. Then Rozette Kats, a Dutch Jew present in 1943, testified that, “until a few decades ago, some survivors had tried not to uphold the memory of LGBT victims…Everybody who was persecuted then deserves a respectful commemoration and everybody who is persecuted today also deserves our recognition and protection” (21). World War II was a devastating time in history that heavily impacted the entire world, which is why this commemoration gained international attention and holds so much significance. It also serves to highlight the seriousness of more recent comments being made by powerful leaders today. Michael Knowles’ aggressive statements at CPAC, that “transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely… There can be no middle way in dealing with transgenderism. It is all or nothing.” (22) for example may evoke images of the destruction of the Hirschfeld institute and complete eradication of trans people from public life in 1933 (23). Before that moment in time, trans people had already achieved public recognition and advanced medical treatment in Germany, but all the institute’s research was destroyed as Nazis successfully reversed that social progress and united the public against trans people as stepping stones to even larger-scale persecution of Jewish populations.

The past 12 months have been an extremely turbulent time for transgender people, and, unfortunately, far more harm has been inflicted on our access to basic needs and liberties than progress since the last Trans day of Visibility. Access to healthcare and the freedom to participate in everyday activities without threat of persecution continues to grow increasingly restrictive, but with the help of leaders like Esmee Silverman, Schuyler Bailar, Zooey Zephyr, Leigh Finke, Erin Reed, Kai Shappley, Gwendolyn Herzig, Emma Curtis and countless others, fearlessly standing up for all of us, there’s still hope for reversing the regression we’ve been facing. Without accurate representation, resisting the relentless opposition to our existence would be impossible, but instead, most discriminatory legislation has been defeated. An incredibly long and arduous journey still lies ahead of us as a community, but if human decency prevails, perhaps we can all keep history from repeating itself and eventually shape a society that celebrates and utilizes our differences instead of trying to erase them.

Citations:

1. Attacks on gender affirming care by state map. Human Rights Campaign. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.hrc.org/resources/attacks-on-gender-affirming-care-by-state-map

2. JMA pediatric study: Tordoff DM, Wanta JW, Collin A, Stepney C, Inwards-Breland DJ, Ahrens K. Mental Health Outcomes in Transgender and Nonbinary Youths Receiving Gender-Affirming Care. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(2):e220978. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.0978. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2789423.

3. LB;, A. A. C. S. L. D. S. S. M. I. (n.d.). Suicidality among transgender youth: Elucidating the role of Interpersonal Risk Factors. Journal of interpersonal violence. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32345113/

4. Finley, B. (2023, March 24). Transgender activist and United Airlines flight attendant Kayleigh Scott found dead in Colorado. The Denver Post. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.denverpost.com/2023/03/24/transgender-activist-united-flight-attendant-kayleigh-scott/

5. Kolirin, L. (2023, February 15). Brianna Ghey: Boy and girl charged with murder of Trans teen in English Park. CNN. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/15/europe/brianna-ghey-murder-charge-gbr-intl-scli/index.html

6. NBCUniversal News Group. (2022, July 7). Texas trans activist Kai Shappley flees the state after years of advocacy. NBCNews.com. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-community-voices/texas-trans-activist-kai-shappley-flees-state-years-advocacy-rcna37000

7. DeMillo, A. (2023, February 27). Trans people face hostile rhetoric from state lawmakers. PBS. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/trans-people-face-hostile-rhetoric-from-state-lawmakers

8. Owen, G. (2023, February 28). Transgender rep. Zooey Zephyr condemns Montana drag ban in a passionate speech. LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/02/transgender-rep-zooey-zephyr-condemns-montana-drag-ban-in-a-passionate-speech/

9. Smith, R. (2023, March 24). Banning trans athletes doesn't protect anyone – it hurts all women and girls. PinkNews. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/03/24/banning-trans-athletes-schuyler-bailar/

10. March for Queer & Trans Youth Autonomy. Queer Youth Assemble. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://queeryouthassemble.org/march-for-queer-trans-youth-autonomy/

11. Manzella, S. (2022, July 19). Meet the young leaders battling division and ensuring the future is queer. LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.lgbtqnation.com/authentic-voices-of-pride/meet-young-leaders-battling-division-ensuring-future-queer/

12. Stahl , L. (2016, April 10). Switching teams. CBS News. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-harvard-transgender-swimmer-schuyler-bailar/

13. Staff, W. C. C. O., & Cummings, C. (2023, March 24). Minnesota House passes "Trans refuge" legislation after Late-night debate. CBS News. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-house-passes-trans-refuge-legislation-after-late-night-debate/

14. NBCUniversal News Group. (2022, July 7). Texas trans activist Kai Shappley flees the state after years of advocacy. NBCNews.com. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-community-voices/texas-trans-activist-kai-shappley-flees-state-years-advocacy-rcna37000

15. CBC/Radio Canada. (2023, March 17). This petition asks Canada to grant asylum to transgender people from the U.S. could it work? | CBC News. CBCnews. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/us-transgender-asylum-petition-1.6779692

16. Podcast: Erin in The morning: A interview with Erin Reed, LGBTQ+... New Books Network. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://newbooksnetwork.com/erin-in-the-morning-a-interview-with-erin-reed-trans-activist-and-substacker

17. Ali, J. (2023, March 19). Activist creates map of us to show where it's safe to be trans. PinkNews. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/03/19/activist-creates-map-of-us-showing-where-trans-people-can-live-safely/.

18. Reed, E. (n.d.). Erin's Informed Consent HRT Map of the US. Google my maps. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1DxyOTw8dI8n96BHFF2JVUMK7bXsRKtzA&hl=en_US

19. NBCUniversal News Group. (2023, February 15). Arkansas lawmaker, at a hearing, asks transgender woman if she has a penis. NBCNews.com. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/arkansas-lawmaker-hearing-asks-transgender-woman-penis-rcna70787

20. Here's what happened at the Kentucky Capitol this week. spectrumlocalnews.com. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2023/03/17/here-s-what-happened-at-the-kentucky-capitol-this-week-

21. Jordans, F. (2023, January 27). Germany recalls overlooked LGBT victims of Nazi persecution. ABC News. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/germany-recalls-overlooked-lgbt-victims-nazi-persecution-96720939

22. Goetsch, D. (2023, March 8). Opinion: What the CPAC speaker meant when he said 'transgenderism must be eradicated'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-03-08/transgender-cpac-michael-knowles-rolling-stone-ron-desantis

23. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (n.d.). Magnus Hirschfeld. United States holocaust memorial museum. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/magnus-hirschfeld-2