What is International Trans Day of Visibility and when do we celebrate it?

The end of March marks the arrival of a vital holiday for trans people and their allies.

Each year brings around International Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV), an annual event that’s only recently started to garner widespread attention. Unfortunately, that attention is far too often spurred by hateful rhetoric and bigoted public figures, which leaves many people misinformed about what the holiday actually stands for. A certain subset of people are working hard to erase trans people in any light that isn’t starkly negative, and paint the entire community as “mentally ill” or somehow misguided, rather than acknowledging and respecting the many incredible things trans people have done worldwide.

What is International Trans Day of Visibility?

One of the trans community’s major annual holidays exists to bring some much-needed attention to one of the modern world’s most ignored groups. Trans people are erased on a daily basis — by society, the legal system, and their own families — and International Trans Day of Visibility aims to lessen this burden, for at least 24 hours. The holiday aims to bring awareness to the strife and discrimination faced by so many trans people around the globe, and to celebrate all of the incredible things they do, on a daily basis, to make our world better.

The holiday started in 2009, by transgender activist Rachel Crandall, after she realized no holidays existed to celebrate the accomplishments and struggles of living transgender people. Before she began TDOV, the only day that singularly focused on the trans community was the Transgender Day of Remembrance, which highlights the victims of anti-trans attacks and remembers lost members of the community.

TDOV forged on for years, with little acknowledgement, before it was finally recognized by the world at large. It wasn’t widely celebrated until 2014, and its only been properly acknowledged by high-level politicians and public figures in recent years. President Biden’s formal proclamation recognizing the event finally brings the holiday into the mainstream, where it belongs.

When is International Trans Day of Visibility?

International Trans Day of Visibility fall on the same day each year, unlike some of those sneaky, mobile holidays (looking at you, Thanksgiving.) The holiday is celebrated just as Spring really grinds its heels in, marking March 30 as the official date to celebrate the many incredible contributions our trans friends and neighbors have made over the years.