Thousands of people rallied across the country Friday as part of a Transgender Day of Visibility in support of the rights of transgender people and their resilience amid what many denounced as an increasingly hostile environment.
Supporters of transgender rights converged on statehouses nationwide, at the Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., and at other venues to mark a day of unity first proclaimed more than a decade ago.
Charlie Draugh, a 17-year-old high school senior from Chisago, Minnesota, who attends a boarding school in Vermont, said he was angry that groups are trying to control his life and turn him into a political pawn. "We're not a new idea. We're not a new group," said Penelope Torres, who traveled from Chicago to Washington, D.C., where more than 1,000 people marched from Union Station to the reflecting pool. "We have always been here, we've always been part of the communities and it's time to start recognizing that and to give us equal protections."
"Let me be clear: These attacks are un-American and must end," Biden's statement said. "The bullying, discrimination, and political attacks that trans kids face have exacerbated our national mental health crisis." International Transgender Day of Visibility was created in 2010 by an advocate who decried that most media coverage focused on anti-transgender violence rather than the positive contributions to society made by transgender people, according to advocacy group GLAAD. Advocates say it's important to improve transgender visibility because many voters and policymakers take actions that impact transgender people's lives without knowing a transgender person.
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