History of trans day of visibility

Some of you might have seen the name, Trans Day of Visibility, popping up everywhere today. What is it exactly you might ask?

Before this day was founded in 2009, the only well-known transgendered-centred day was Trans Day of Remembrance, mourning for the murders of trans people. Since then, every year on 31st March, Trans Day of Visibility celebrates the achievements and contributions made by the living members of trans community.

The purpose of today is to also raise awareness about trans issues and raise visibility of trans people in all corners of the world. It is a day we want to be seen. A day to let the world know we exist.

The progress we made so far has been amazing

Since same-sex marriage bill was legalized in Australia towards the end of 2017, we have made significant progress in supporting our commitment to LGBTQIA+ inclusion.

More progress was made in trans and gender diverse issues e.g. In Tasmania, you can easily change your gender indicator in your birth certificate. Recently, Allianz introduces paid gender affirmation leave.

The progress we made so far has been amazing. But trans and gender diverse people are still facing discrimination at some stage of their life.

Having made the progress Issues we still need to rectify

Some might say trans issues are only about bathrooms access and pronouns. But the issue is so much more complex than that. We are talking about high surgery costs, domestic violence against trans people, homelessness, difficulty accessing legal documents with correct name/gender, uneducated medical professionals and inaccessible mental healthcare in a lot of third world countries.

Even today, trans existence is still being constantly debated by others e.g. Mark Latham’s bill to stop open discussion about gender identity will cause more harm to trans kids at school than most people would think.

We fear what we don’t understand. When we are more educated about trans and gender diverse people, the less there will be transphobia and bullying at school.

You can have a look at some of the issues discussed at the last trans rights march in Sydney.