The March 31 International Transgender Day of Visibility ( TDOV ) is a worldwide, proud declaration of the humanity and achievements of transgender and gender nonconforming individuals.
In events held in schools, through organizations ranging from grassroots to national advocates, in groups or across the social media landscape, transgender and gender nonconforming individuals step forward in resilient defiance of those who seek to ignore or obliterate their humanity whether through legislation, discrimination or violence.
But while the day is an opportunity for the community as a whole to move further away from the shadows which envelop society's margins, the solidarity of cisgender individuals in support of that move remains woefully sporadic.
Activist Meggan Sommerville experienced firsthand the consequences of such a lack of support. Her fight with her employers at Hobby Lobby just to be able to use the restroom at work that matches her true gender may have made national headlines but has been mentally and physically devastating.
Her ChicagoNow blog Trans Girl at the Cross charts those moments alongside each victory both small and momentous in a journey made hand-in-hand with her Christian faith—one that is in direct opposition to far right church leaders who would not only deny her a place in their congregations, but in some cases, her very existence.
In 2009, Michigan activist Rachel Crandall was originating the TDOV as an alternative to the November Transgender Day of Remembrance and a day that could positively focus on the lives of transgender individuals while focusing on the international issues they face rather than mourning those who were lost—too late for those issues to be addressed.
That same year, Sommerville wrote on her blog, "I feel abandoned by everything. I don't know what to do anymore - give up? Give up transition? Give up the idea of happiness? Give up life? I'm not living now—I am existing."
Yet the overwhelming support of her parents made a significantly positive impact in Sommerville's life. If they can do it, even out of the sheer love of their daughter, then other cisgender people can become allies through a similar motivation—love of their fellow human beings.
So Sommerville and her friend and fellow blogger Pamela Valentine decided to use this year's TDOV in order to further build upon Crandall's work and engage vast numbers of cisgender people in a crucial alliance.
"This year, with such a need across the county and with anti-trans bills being proposed in State legislatures, I felt compelled to do more," she told Windy City Times. "Visibility is great but myself and other transgender individuals can only tell our stories so many times to the people who are willing to listen. We need our allies to step up and speak up when we're not around. When conversations about transgender individuals come up, we want them to really speak for us."
At the beginning of March, Sommerville and Valentine adopted a hashtag created by a transgender student advocacy group. The two women wanted #MoreThanVisibility to be promoted particularly for allies to attach to their blogs and social media posts.
"We're going to reach millions more people when our allies speak up and use their platforms to talk about what's going on in the transgender community and highlight the positive work that's being done, not only by the big names we see on television but also by the person in the workplace or at school," Sommerville said.
After launching #MoreThanVisibility, Sommerville and Valentine spent the month leading up to the TDOV in a relentless effort to get people on board.
"We helped educate them on posting good stories, links and articles on the Facebook event page," Sommerville said. "It really has opened the eyes of a lot of people who didn't have the resources that we have to communicate, in a positive light, the issues that the transgender community faces."
As a result, #MoreThanVisibility has not only taken a tenacious hold but is exponentially growing. There are posts that include the hashtag in TDOV event pages in cities like Philadelphia. Organizations like the Trans LifeLine and Milwaukee Pride have adopted it. A high school student began charting a full week of activities in the run-up to the day. On Facebook, one individual asserted "this loud and proud Trans ally will be extra loud this day!"
Meanwhile, Sommerville and Valentine are pushing for it to begin trending on Twitter. They have compiled a list of 120 of the most influential accounts to which people can Tweet alongside examples they can use such as "Raise your voice. Be an ally and join Trans Day of Visibility on March 31."
That campaign will begin on March 24. "Some of these accounts we are asking people to Tweet to are already supportive of the transgender community, some of them are people we want to hear declare that they hear us, support us and want to be our allies," Sommerville said. "This year we need people to have our backs especially because of some of these horrific bills that are being presented across the country."
At last count, there were 44 anti-transgender measures being presented in in 16 State legislatures, each varying in the degrees of severity and implementation, but all designed to reduce or completely eliminate the ability of transgender people to function in society.
In order to combat them, Sommerville believes that the support of cisgender people is essential. If the battle is fought by the community alone, it could well be lost and so further empower the authors and organizations behind those bills to take ever-increasing steps towards a goal of legitimizing discrimination against transgender and gender nonconforming people nationwide.
"The biggest thing we want is people to say 'I am an ally and I stand with the transgender community'," Sommerville said. "We want the cisgender community to educate their followers. These are audiences that are going to help push this community forward, push equality forward and help us make a difference."
To join the #MoreThanVisibility TDOV Facebook Page, visit www.facebook.com/events/449087488622609 .
