Today, March 31, is the sixth annual Transgender Day of Visibility, a holiday aimed at honoring transgender people’s identities and lived experiences. People identifying as transgender are celebrating by posting selfies online.
The Transgender Day of Visibility was started 6 years ago by transgender activist Rachel Crandall of Transgender Michigan. She founded the holiday in response to the negative portrayal of transgender people in the media.
“It’s not just a holiday anymore – it’s a movement,” Crandall recently told Pridesource.com. “Being visible is the only way people are going to understand us, to actually see us and to actually meet us. If all they do is read about it, it’s not going to feel real to them. They need to see our faces.”
To celebrate the Transgender Day of Visibility, transgender people are posting selfies with the hashtag #transdayofvisibility. There’s also a separate Tumblr campaign to celebrate the Transgender Day of Visibility by getting “trans and nonbinary people” to post selfies and “get good vibes” with the hashtag #transtakeoverselfies.
“If we all could spread love instead of hate, the world would be a better place.”-Jazz Jennings #TransDayOfVisibility pic.twitter.com/clZAhSAsnf
— NOH8 Campaign (@NOH8Campaign) March 31, 2015
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Photo via torbakhopper/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
