2023 Trans Day of Visibility

Trans Day of Visibility in 2023

by David Simon

Transgender Day of Visibility 

On Transgender Day of Visibility, time is taken to uplift trans and nonbinary people around the world who live their lives as their authentic selves. While no one is obligated to disclose their gender identity to anyone, seeing positive trans representation throughout life serves to elevate the mental health of trans people. Inversely, negative trans representation – whether that’s caricatured fictional trans characters or stigmatizing reporting from popular news outlets – can have a harmful impact on the mental health of trans people. 

Origins of TDOV 

Transgender Day of Visibility started as a reflection of the existence of Transgender Day of Remembrance. Originating in 2009 from Transgender Michigan co-founderi Rachel Crandall Crocker, the Day of Visibility was organized to become a way to uplift the inherent good within trans identities rather than focusing on the loss represented in the Day of Remembrance. 

“The day of remembrance is exactly what it is. It remembers people who died,” Crandall Crocker said in 2009, explaining the purpose of Transgender Day of Visibility.ii “This focuses on the living. People have told me they love Remembrance Day but it really focuses on the negative aspect of it. Isn’t there anything that could focus on the positive aspect of being trans?” 

Since the inaugural Transgender Day of Visibility, the holiday has grown significantly in recognition, ranging from international recognition by international activistsiii to President Joe Biden issuing a proclamation recognizing the day of observation.iv 

More importantly, however, is a rise of recognizing trans people: more than ever, people across the United States know a trans or nonbinary individual personally.v This, juxtaposed with a growing population size in trans youth,vi shows the importance of how trans representation in people’s personal lives as well as in popular media can impact society as a whole. 

Why is it important to know trans people? 

Representation in life and in media matters when it comes to perception – both from other people and from oneself. Even before the age of mass media and mass communication, how different groups were perceived and treated in everyday life had a psychological impact both within and outside those demographics’ identities.vii 

How trans identity is treated and depicted in life and in media affects the perception of trans people in both cisgender and transgender audiences. In a study done by Brown University faculty, a staggering 97.6% of trans people studied stated that they had seen “negative depictions of transgender people in the media” in the twelve months leading up to being surveyed.viii The same study found that said exposure to stigmatizing media was “associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and psychological distress among transgender adults.” Another study showed that exposing people to non-stigmatizing media depicting a trans girl with her family showed more favorable attitudes towards trans identity than through absorbing education via a cisgender expert describing “gender identity disorder.”ix 

When marginalized groups like trans people are seen, they are more likely to shift public perception of trans rights in a positive direction due to the humanizing effect visibility has on minority groups.x 

The Influence of Trans Celebrities 

The visibility of any minority group in media is important for both the mental health and the societal success of people in minority demographics,xi and trans people are not an exception to that.xii At the 2023 Grammy Awards, nonbinary singer Sam Smith and trans woman pop starlet Kim Petras won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their collaboration, “Unholy.” In her acceptance speech, Kim Petras cited her friend and former collaborator, the late pop music producer SOPHIE, as one of the many people who helped her get to that point of stardom. 

“I just want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me, who kicked these doors open before me so I could be here tonight,” Petras said in accepting her Grammy.xiii “SOPHIE, my friend who passed away two years ago, who told me this would happen and always believed in me – thank you so much for your inspiration, SOPHIE – I adore you, and your inspiration will forever be in my music.” 

This is not to discount other trans and nonbinary Grammy nominees who were not out by the time of their nominations – three-time Grammy-winner Wendy Carlos and eight-time Grammy nominee Janelle Monáe’s respective impacts, among others, cannot be understated, regardless of whether they have publicly disclosed their identities by the time they were nominated. That being said, Kim Petras, in being the first openly trans artist to win a Grammy, is continuing a cycle of inspiration for her music successors: Just as SOPHIE – one of the three first out trans artists to be nominated for a Grammy, alongside fellow trans women Teddy Geiger and Jackie Shanexiv – was a source of inspiration for her, Petras will likely be a source of inspiration for a younger generation of trans musicians.  

In Conclusion 

A quote from the late trans rights activist Jahaira DeAlto of House Balenciaga summarizes the kinship within the trans community from her own experiences: 

“I am the mother who raised the children whose rainbow sparkled too brightly and blinded their birth moms. I cherished what they discarded. I took on earthly assignments for the moms who’d earned their Heavenly reward. For their babies who still needed raising. I did that. And I’m still doing that. And I’ll keep doing that. Because I will never know what seeing my DNA reflected in another’s eyes could look like, but I know what gratitude in the eyes of a young person who finally feels seen looks like. And for me, that’s enough.”xv 

Prominent trans and nonbinary people will always be beacons of inspiration and hope for children who are just like them. Transgender Day of Visibility’s importance is to act as a light to counter the transprejudice that trans youth face, particularly in the wake of hundreds of anti-trans legislation popping up throughout the United States alone. 

Works Cited

  1. “Who We Are,” Transgender Michigan.
    https://www.transgendermichigan.org/who-we-are.
  2. Carreras, Jessica. “Transgender Day of Visibility Plans Erupt Locally, Nationwide.” Pride Source, 16 Jan. 2018,
    https://pridesource.com/article/34351/.
  3. Scottish Socialist Party [@The_SSP_] ” The SSP stands in solidarity with trans* people across Scotland & the world today — Intl. Transgender Day of Visibility — & every day. #TDoV” Twitter, 31 March 2014,
    https://twitter.com/The_SSP_/status/450657177901223936.
  4. Jackson, Jon. “Biden First President to Issue Transgender Day of Visibility Proclamation.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2021,
    https://www.newsweek.com/trans-visibility-day-1580123.
  5. Minkin, Rachel, and Anna Brown. “Rising Shares of U.S. Adults Know Someone Who Is Transgender or Goes by Gender-Neutral Pronouns.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 27 July 2021,
    https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/27/rising-shares-of-u-s-adults-know-someone-who-is-transgender-or-goes-by-gender-neutral-pronouns/.
  6. Herman, Jody L, et al. “How Many Adults and Youth Identify as Transgender in the United States?” 2022.
  7. “Brown v. Board: The Significance of the ‘Doll Test.’” Legal Defense Fund, 7 Dec. 2022,
    https://www.naacpldf.org/brown-vs-board/significance-doll-test/.
  8. Hughto, Jaclyn M W, et al. “Negative Transgender-Related Media Messages Are Associated with Adverse Mental Health Outcomes in a Multistate Study of Transgender Adults.” LGBT Health, vol. 8, no. 1, 2021, pp. 32–41.
  9. Tompkins, Tanya L, et al. “Reducing Stigma Toward the Transgender Community: An Evaluation of a Humanizing and Perspective-Taking Intervention.” Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, vol. 2, no. 1, 2015, pp. 34–42.
  10. Michelson, Melissa R. “The Power of Visibility: Advances in LGBT Rights in the United States and Europe.” The Journal of Politics, vol. 81, no. 1, 2019, pp. e1–e5.
  11. Barba. (2020). Identity Representation of Minorities in Stories. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
  12. Gillig, Traci K., et al. “More than a Media Moment: The Influence of Televised Storylines on Viewers’ Attitudes toward Transgender People and Policies.” Sex Roles, vol. 78, no. 7-8, 2018, pp. 515–527.
  13. “SAM SMITH & KIM PETRAS Win Best Pop Duo / Group Performance For ‘Unholy’ | 2023 GRAMMYs,” YouTube, uploaded by Recording Academy / GRAMMYs, 5 Feb. 2023
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3ti1OmtN4c.
  14. Moen, Matt. “Sophie’s Grammy Nomination Is a Groundbreaking Moment.” PAPER, PAPER, 6 Feb. 2023,
    https://www.papermag.com/sophie-grammys-2622742745.html#rebelltitem4.
  15. Walters, Quincy. “’She Was Full of All the Best Parts of Love’: Friends Grieve the Death of Jahaira Dealto.” WBUR News, WBUR, 3 May 2021,
    https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/05/03/friends-grieve-death-jahaira-dealto.