Friday, March 31st is the International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV). For trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people and their friends and loved ones, this a narrow window in time to celebrate diversity, acknowledge the courage to live life as their authentic selves, and share joy and love in the face of everyday discrimination, dehumanization, violence, and oppression.
Yet this year’s TDOV is unlike any other. At the time of writing this (March 7, 2023), 425 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in State House and Senate floors across the U. S., which include: 122 gender affirmative care bans, 44 trans sports bans, 38 drag bans, 22 trans bathroom bans, 11 birth certificate change bans, 20 bills defining trans people out of law, 15 bills of forced misgendering, and 70 bills requiring the forced outing of LGBTQ+ people, 10 of which are specific to school-based settings. While it is still early in the legislative period with some states having yet to hold session, seven bills have been signed into law with an additional 87 bills that have passed committee, passed one chamber, or is pending governor signature. Perhaps one of the most nefarious bills is Florida’s newest anti-trans bill, SB254, that would allow for the removal of custody of a child if a sibling or a parent is at risk of or is utilizing gender affirmative care.
Today’s backdrop of hate targeting trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive people in our country may make celebrating TDOV much more difficult than it ever was in the past, but it has never been more critical. As a genderqueer person, a formerly homeless, first-generation college student and drop-out, and a child of southeast Asian immigrants, I know too well what it means to be alone in the world, alone in my community, alone in my family, and alone in academia. However, being visible, vocal, and committed to a praxis of justice – above and beyond diversity, equity, and inclusion – is in the critical path to surviving what might be one of the most wicked chapters in American history – one dedicated to attempting to eradicate a vulnerable community from social life entirely. This anti-trans, state-sanctioned, gender-based violence will categorically unravel the social fabric of American society as we know it – but what can any one person do?
While not exhaustive, here are a few steps that people who do not identify as transgender, nonbinary, or gender expansive (also referred to as cisgender) can take to deepen their support for trans people, their well-being, and visibility.
- Understand gender as a social construct
- Sex is not gender, and vice versa.
- Seek out interconnectedness as oppressed people. Use intersectionality as a critical thinking lens to trace and dialogue the connections, similarities, and differences between transphobia and racism or between body autonomy in a person’s right to choose and a person’s right to gender affirmative health care.
- Identify and disrupt the urge to engage in oppression Olympics, or comparing marginalized groups in order to determine which group is most oppressed. This thinking perpetuates oppression and wrongly frames any step toward liberation as a zero-sum game.
- Discuss and amplify gender identity diversity in DEI spaces, initiatives, and justice-oriented work.
- Affirm transgender health research, knowledge, science, and lived experiences as valid.
- Commit to the deep self-work necessary to reinforce the above steps.
- Have conversations with family, people you know with worldviews that may differ from your own about the aforementioned topics.
- Honor the humanity of trans people you know, colleagues, staff, family members, etc. Use their pronouns. Check-in on them. Share your love, gratitude, and encouragement for them.
- Donate to organizations serving trans communities, especially trans women of color.
Growing up, as many of you might have too, I pledged liberty and justice for all. I hope you’ll receive this as a gentle but urgent call to action. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
How will you link arms with those of us whose lived experiences differ from your own in pursuit of a vision of public health that liberates everyone? What legacy will you leave for future generations of public health professionals to carry on? I welcome opportunities to collaborate, to dialogue, and to stand with one another in the pursuit of justice and public health for all.
Sean Arayasirikul, PhD (they/them)
Associate Professor In-Residence, Department of Health, Society, and Behavior
Associate Director, UC Global Health Initiative Center for Gender and Health Justice
