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Celebrating Trans Lives
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Celebrated every year throughout the world, Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) is dedicated to highlighting and celebrating the diversity, achievements, and struggles of transgender and gender-nonconforming people.
And there are many achievements to celebrate. We’ve witnessed a rapid growth in the public acceptance of trans and gender nonconforming people. We’ve seen the number of young people identifying as transgender double in recent years, and have had a growing number of openly trans individuals elected into public office—including Sarah McBride of Delaware, the first openly transgender woman to serve in a state senate, and one of 87 openly trans and gender nonconforming individuals presently serving in public office. But while trans representation and public acceptance have increased, so too have the attacks against their livelihoods, making awareness and allyship more important than ever.
Over 400 anti-trans bills have been introduced in 2023 in various states across the country. These bills focus on a few particular areas: re-classifying drag shows as adult performances (or even outlawing them); banning gender affirming care for minors; forcing schools to disclose to students’ parents or guardians if they are gender non-conforming or socially transitioning; bathroom bills forcing people to use restrooms aligned with the sex on their birth certificate or ID; banning trans athletes from participating in competitions in the gender category they identify as—the list goes on. Not only are trans people experiencing harm on the legislative level; they are also being physically attacked across the country. Violence against trans people continues to rise as well. In 2023 alone, over 30 heartbreaking cases of anti-trans violence have been reported1. Silence is deadly.
Civic Influencers values innovation, equity, inclusion, and power. We recognize the intersectionality of trans lives, and the importance of working together to fight for the lives of our trans community members. We have boots on the ground in key states working diligently to ensure their peers are informed—not only about voting, but issue-based advocacy like trans rights as well.
We call on all of our community members to celebrate trans lives and join our fight in securing protections for the trans community. This webpage contains many resources and action steps you can take to support our trans community members today and beyond.
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Special thanks to Audrey Ferguson, our Co-Chief of Organizing; Joshlynn Hilburn, our Statewide Organizer; and Jaycee Brown, our Pennsylvania Organizer At-Large for their work on the Trans Day of Visibility project.
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Social Media Accounts
- Chase Strangio; follows most of these anti-trans bills and spreads info about them as well as efforts to combat them.
@chasestrangio - Lillian Lennon; Trans activist and organizer who helped defeat a bathroom bill in Alaska
@mslillianlennon - Mara Keisling; Founder and current executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality
@marakeisling
- Eli Erlick; Co-founder of TSER, Trans Student Educational Resources
@elierlick - Kai Wes; Trans influencer who speaks primarily about gender identity and fluidity
@kai_wes - Nikita Dragun; Trans influencer and model who is also the CEO of her own makeup company. She speaks out often on trans-rights.
@nikita_dragun - Devin Michael Lowe; Trans actor, model, and activist. He also runs support groups and workshops for trans-masc folks.
@devinmichaellowe - Jamie Windust; Trans influencer and model who is the CEO of Fruitcake Magazine which is focused on LGTQ+ creatives.
@jamie_windust - Vivek Shraya; Trans author, poet, and activist
@vivekshraya
Books:
- Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (1993)
Fiction
“Stone Butch Blues traces a propulsive journey, powerfully evoking history and politics while portraying an extraordinary protagonist full of longing, vulnerability, and working-class grit. This once-underground classic takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride of gender transformation and exploration and ultimately speaks to the heart of anyone who has ever suffered or gloried in being different” (Goodreads) - Black Queer Studies: A Critical Anthology Edited by E. Patrick
Johnson (2005)
Nonfiction - Anthology
“While over the past decade a number of scholars have done significant work on questions of black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered identities, this volume is the first to collect this groundbreaking work and make black queer studies visible as a developing field of study in the United States.” (Goodreads) - Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters (2021)
Fiction
“A whipsmart debut about three women-transgeder and cisgender-whose lives collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces them to confront their deepest desires around gender, motherhood, and sex.” (Goodreads) - Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (2020)
Young Adult - Fiction
“Felix Love has never been in love-and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many-Black, queer, and transgender-to ever get his own happily-ever-after.” (Goodreads) - Queer Brown Voices: Personal Narratives of Latina/o LGBT Activism Edited by Uriel Quesada and Letitia Gomez (2015)
Nonfiction - Memoir - Anthologies
“These narratives are powerful expressions of the experiences of lesbians, gay men, and trans activists from a variety of Latina/o communities. This history exists nowhere else.” (Marcia M. Gallo, Assistant Professor of History, University of Nevada Las Vegas and author of Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement) (Goodreads)
Mental Health:
- Trans Lifeline
- The Trevor Project
- GLMA
- Health Resources and Services Administration, Health Equity
- GLAAD’s Transgender Resources
National Organizations:
Call/Write/Visit legislature
- Writing/Calling:
Visit this tracker of anti-trans legislation to see if there are any proposed bills in your respective state. - Once identifying an anti-trans bill(s) look up who your state representatives are, as well as their contact information. This site can offer a little direction but search engines can also be of help.
- Once found, reach out to your representative! Draft emails are available here.
PFLAG Join the Fight actions
- PFLAG is advocating on many bills and issues affecting LGBTQ+ folks, here you can find actions to take in specific areas as well as bills to contact your representatives about.
Work with local groups fighting these bills and supporting trans lives.
Org examples
- Equality Federation, Local Affiliates
- American Civil Liberties Union, Local Affiliates
- GLSEN, Local Affiliates
- PFLAG, Local Affiliates
- HRC, Local Affiliates
- InTRANSitive; AR
- Center for Artistic Revolution; AR
- Mississippi Rainbow Center; MI
- Montana Gender Alliance; MT
- Montana Human Rights Network MT
- Tranzmission NC
- Campaign for Southern Equality; Southern US, Based in NC
- Student Advocates of North Dakota; ND
- Pennsylvania Equality Project; PA
- SisTers PGH; PA
- Transformation Project; SD
- Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition; TN
- Transgender Education Network of Texas; TX
- Out Youth; Austin, TX
- Fairness WV
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Vianey Preciado in TX tabling at a Pride event and registering many students and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
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Isabel Herrera in Round Rock, TX tabling at Round Rock Pride to register voters and get information out about the 2022 midterms.
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