March 31st is International Transgender Day of Visibility, an annual celebration of the transgender community and opportunity for action against transphobia, systemic oppression, and violence.
In honor of TDoV, we asked some of our trans/nonbinary staff members the following simple question: What does visibility mean to you?
Here’s what they had to share! 🏳️⚧️
“Being alive! Living and doing whatever I want for all those before me who couldn’t.”
– Anonymous (any pronouns) | trans, nonbinary
“For me, being visible isn’t just being “seen” or regarded by others as nonbinary. People claim to see and hear folks like me all the time, but they often misunderstand my noncomformity as a “third gender.” Visibility is a deeper recognition that my non-identification with any fixed gender is valid, my preferences are worthy of respect, and my personhood extends far beyond what’s in my pants or my brain.”
– Ethan L. Stokes (any/all), Developmental Editor | agender, nonbinary
“Visibility means seeing us in our entirety. It means centering the most vulnerable among us and using our privilege to uplift them. It means that your curiosity does not outweigh our humanity. It means finding joy despite the violence and never shutting the fuck up about it!”
– Christopher Ikonomou (xe/he), Editor-In-Chief | trans, genderqueer
“For me, visibility is about representing nonbinary people on the full spectrum on which we exist; not just genderfluid people that perfectly fit into the binary, or perfectly androgynous people that exclusively use they/them. These identities, while valid as any other and vital parts of our community, are too often used as the only representation of nonbinary people that exist. For me, good visibility requires that “nonbinary” be recognized for what it is: an umbrella term that represents a broad range of identities and people.”
– Emma Blakely (they/she/he) | nonbinary lesbian
“It means not being afraid of the visceral reaction to coming out, discussing pronouns being normalized, and just generally getting the chance to be happy, healthy, and safe.”
– Judah Castillo (they/them), Staff Writer | nonbinary
If you’re a cisgender ally looking to take action, considering donating to, volunteering with, or following these trans-centered organizations:
National Center for Transgender Equality
Transgender, Gender-variant, and Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP)