Every Day Should Be An International Transgender Day Of Visibility

March 31 was the third annual observance of what its sponsor hopes becomes a counterbalance to the Transgender Day of Remembrance in November  

There are a few people who have expressed their concerns that the TDOR is 'too somber' in their words or have issues with it being the one day that the media seems to focus on our community.

But my belief is that every day should be an international trans day of visibility.  We need to have the cis public see more out and proud transpeople doing mundane things like playing sports, attending church, running for public office, working and running businesses...

You know, just living our lives. 

We definitely need to do so as we make the push around the world to have our human rights respected,  protected and codified in to laws with teeth for violations of them.   As we struggle to get the lawmakers of the various nations we inhabit to pass those laws, one thing we must do is let those legislators know we exist. It's hard for legislators to discriminate against someone they see or hear from on a regular basis, lives in their district, and you let know votes and has a sphere of influence around them that does the same..


It's even more important to be visible to counter the falsehoods and lies pimped by our right wing opp9nents and the fundamentalist strains of various religions.

And yes, for every person that's proudly living their lives, you give strength and courage to people who may be a little reticent about doing the same. 

So yes, every day should be an international trans day of visibility.   We need to strive for that in order to honor the sisters we have lost around the world who fell victim to anti-transgender hate violence. 

But never forget we are part of the diverse mosaic of human life, and we need not be ashamed of that.  The people who are opposing us do.
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Showing My Black Transsisters Some Love On International Women's Day

Since it's the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day, I was determined to shower some love upon one group of women who definitely need some directed their way.

My African descended trans sisters have to deal with not only the brunt of the anti-trans discrimination and violence directed at us as we painfully get reminded of every November, but with erasure from inside and outside our community.

And like our African descended cis sisters, we have to deal with the 'unwoman' meme disproportionately deployed against all women of color.

So on this centennial International Women's Day know that I'm thinking about you.   I wrote this open letter back in July 2010 to my young African descended transsisters, and it's even more apropos on this day to repost it.

I'm a Phenomenal Transwoman evolving to be the quality Black woman I strive to be.    I'm aware that many of you consider me a role model, and it's a role that I embrace with pride.

As you continue to embark upon your various feminine journeys, keep these words from a 1988 Diana Ross ESSENCE magazine interview close to your hearts.

 'I never considered it a disadvantage to be a Black woman. I never wanted to be anything else. We have brains. We are beautiful. We can do anything we set our minds to.'

So stand tall, embrace being you and your evolving Black womanhood.   You are beautiful, intelligent, talented women who have had to fight tooth and nail just to get to this point in your lives.   We may not have been born with female bodies at birth, but we tried to get here as fast as we could.

Love and embrace that beautiful woman you see staring back at you in the mirror.  Know that for every hater that surfaces spouting ignorance, we have more cissisters who are supportive of us and cognizant of the fact that we are their sisters, and are willing to help us become those finer specimens of Black womanhood we strive to be.

Happy International Women's day, my African descended trans sisters.