We are Here! Trans Day of Visibility

Make Yourselves Heard on this Trans Day of Visibility

Around the country, communities celebrated the Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) in advance of March 31st. Nowhere was this more visible than in Fairfax County where proclamations involved celebrations of the trans community, in the shadow of attacks by the current administration and far right groups.

Fairfax County Public Schools Proclamation March 27, 2025

Close to 200 people arrived to celebrate TDOV in a Unity Rally held by FCPS Pride and the Pride Liberation Project. People came from all over Fairfax County with homemade signs, rainbows, pink-white-and-blue trans flags, and love in their heart for transgender loved ones, neighbors, friends, and themselves.

Following speeches by FCPS Pride and Transgender Education Association board members, and clergy like Reverend Emma Chattin and J.P. Hong, the crowd entered Luther Jackson to hear the proclamation by the Fairfax County School Board.

Chairman Karl Frisch read a beautiful TDOV proclamation that reminded the crowd that transgender people have always been here and have made significant contributions beyond civil rights, such as those like neurobiologist Dr. Ben Barres, and Dr. Lynn Conway, an innovator in computer science.

Despite all of these contributions, Chair Frisch reminded the crowd that in the first months of 2025, "nearly 700 anti-trans bills are under consideration in state legislatures, seeking to block access for transgender people to basic healthcare, housing, employment, education services, legal recognition, and more."

"When he was ready to socially transition at school, we were terrified. But his friends, his school, and his theater community supported him in the best way they knew how. They respected his chosen name, his pronouns, and everything else about him. Overtime we watched him slowly bloom as he became his authentic self." - Christine McCormick, mother and co-leader of FCPS Pride

After the proclamation and the obligatory chaotic photo opportunity (so many joyful people!), students and adults shared stories of transgender joy and success, despite the cloud of uncertainty for the future. Listen to their words to understand what it means to be transgender or the parent of a transgender child in this sometimes frightening world.

Much appreciation to reporters from the Patch, FFX Now, and the Washington Blade for attending and providing beautiful coverage of this historic event. Media coverage of transgender joy and community support is an important part of being visible.

Fairfax City Proclamation March 25, 2025

Reverend Emma Chattin shared this beautiful speech at the Fairfax City council proclamation in honor of the Trans Day of Visibility. Her words buoyed a community that is suffering right now, as transgender people and their families are denied basic civil rights to medical care, education, and their own names. As the Administration tries to prevent our transgender friends, family, and selves from legally existing, let us raise the rafters and be VISIBLE.

I want to thank Mayor Catherine Read and every member of the Fairfax City council for this proclamation! These are some pretty words, and i have very little to add to them, except to say that these words mean something. They mean: we see you. You see us.

The trans communities are a sliver of the population, less than 1%, somewhere between .4 and .6%. This means that in a room of 500, you may have only two or three trans people.

And you would likely never know. Yet this community has been falsely singled out by misinformation and misunderstanding. Way too much time has been spent finger pointing at us. We are gentle, kind, and harmless people. Get to know one of us, and find out the challenges we face in life.

And if you don’t know where to start, start with me. I like lunch.

We are communities with well over 100 years of medical and scientific documentation. And we have always existed everywhere since the beginning of time. Among indigenous people, we are often regarded as healers, and people of wisdom who walk in many worlds.

To paraphrase Shakespeare, we may be a small group small, but we are fierce. And we are not alone. We have friends, family, spouses, and allies here, strong fearless people who believe in the freedom of the human soul to find it’s place in community.

Day of visibility? To paraphrase another writer:

We are here. A person is a person, and people are people.

Even if the group is small.

Speak up for what is right, and make yourselves heard;

speak up .. speak up… speak up … one and all!

You can’t beat Dr. Seuss and in Horton hears a Who.

You see us. You hear us. And this… this right here is visibility….

A moment where you see

That we here…. we are people, friends and family..

We rise for equality… all groups, big and small

And we give thanks for liberty,

And a city that makes room… and is a safe place for all.

Reverend Emma Chattin is the Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Northern Virginia (MCC NoVA), a Church Home for all people, No Exceptions, No Kidding, Affirming and Celebrating LGBTIQQ Diversity: MCC Was Born That Way.

She is also the Executive Director of the TransGender Education Association of Greater Washington, an education and community building organization Supporting Trans and Gender Expansive Individuals and the Communities in which They Live and Work.

"Names are so important. They are a demonstration of love and support that we give to loved ones." - Reverend J.P. Hong