Trans Day of Visibility in a Shifting Landscape

Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) on March 31 is just around the corner and, as always, it is a meaningful opportunity to celebrate the achievements and contributions of trans and non-binary people around the world. It is a day to recognise trans excellence, to acknowledge how much richer our communities are because trans and non-binary people are part of them and to affirm that trans and non-binary people deserve to be seen without fear.

In many ways, there has been real progress. Compared to even ten years ago, public understanding of gender diversity has expanded dramatically. More people have language for their experiences, more workplaces, schools, families and communities are having conversations that once felt out of reach, and for many, doors have opened that simply did not exist before. Living openly has become more achievable for many trans and non-binary people and this wouldn’t have been possible if not for the work of trans and non-binary activists, educators and communities that have shifted our culture in incredible ways.

At the same time, it means that visibility has become more complicated.

As trans and non-binary people have become more visible, trans lives have also become more politicized. Across many countries, gender diversity is debated in legislatures, media cycles and cultural arguments that can feel relentless. Increased awareness has not consistently translated into increased safety. For some, particularly trans women and trans people who hold multiple marginalized identities, visibility has brought heightened scrutiny rather than protection.

Visibility is often spoken about as though it is a single moment, as if someone is either out or not and that is the end of the story. In reality, visibility exists along a spectrum. Some people are fully visible and open about being trans or non-binary with those around them. Others are partially or situationally visible, making ongoing decisions about when to share, with whom and under what conditions. Someone might be open online but not with family, or known by their name and pronouns in one space while choosing not to share that information in another. Coming out is rarely one event, but a series of decisions shaped by context, power dynamics, past experiences and safety.

Workplaces, in particular, are frequently the last place people choose to be visible. Research shows that 77% of trans people have hidden who they are, delayed transition or left a job to avoid discrimination (James et al 2016). We are in a strange moment where visibility is both expanding and contracting all at once; some people feel more able to live openly than ever before, while others are becoming more cautious, stepping back in certain spaces or choosing carefully where and with whom they are visible. This is why visibility today often feels less like a declaration and more like a series of ongoing calculations.

These calculations are shaped by wider political conditions, and in the United States, for example, policy changes in some states now have direct implications for healthcare access, legal recognition and personal safety. In states where laws restrict gender-affirming care, limit documentation changes or increase scrutiny of trans and non-binary people in public life, visibility itself can carry heightened risk. Decisions about where to live, whether to update identification and how openly to move through daily life are increasingly shaped by those legislative environments. A recent LinkedIn post by Leo Caldwell points to the number of trans people relocating in response to legislative targeting, offering a sobering reminder that visibility is not an abstract debate, but something shaped by material conditions and safety.

Even this picture remains incomplete without considering intersectionality. Visibility does not operate the same way for everyone; race, disability, immigration status, religion, class and cultural background all shape what being visible might mean and what it might cost. A visibly racialized trans person may encounter layered scrutiny where racism and transphobia reinforce one another. Someone who is visibly racialized but not visibly trans may initially experience racism, only to face additional exclusion or shock once colleagues learn they are trans. For others, disability or immigration status may heighten the stakes of being visible in ways that are not immediately apparent. Visibility is never experienced in isolation from other aspects of identity.

All of this means that celebrating TDOV requires nuance. Visibility can feel empowering in one context and risky in another. If visibility is shaped by environment, then the environments surrounding trans and non-binary people matter deeply, and workplaces have a significant role to play. Policies, systems and cultures can either contribute to conditions where visibility feels possible or create circumstances where staying invisible feels safer.

TransFocus’ TDOV sessions are shaped by this wider context, where, alongside exploring the historical and political landscape, we create space for lived experience and reflection. When people choose to share, the storytelling element of the sessions helps ground ideas that can otherwise feel distant, connecting participants to the realities faced by trans people in their midst. And, importantly, those perspectives do not only come from trans people. In our sessions, we often hear from parents, partners, friends and colleagues who are worried about what current shifts mean, who are wondering how to protect the trans person they care about and how to show up well in uncertain and sometimes hostile environments. When organisations take inclusion seriously, they are not only supporting trans staff. They are also creating environments where employees with trans loved ones can trust the spaces they are part of.

If Trans Day of Visibility is to mean something lasting, it cannot only be about encouraging individuals to step forward. It must also be about examining the environments they are stepping into.

If your organisation is marking Trans Day of Visibility this year, we would be honoured to support that work. Find out more here.