It all started with a Facebook post.
Like others, Rachel Crandall Crocker, the co-founder and executive director of Transgender Michigan, said she always remembered lost trans siblings on Transgender Day of Remembrance, which she describes as a “very important day.” And yet, as appropriate as those remembrances were — and still are — something else was brewing in the back of Crocker’s mind when she was sitting on Facebook in 2009.
“Up until then, the only transgender day was the day of remembrance,” Crocker told Gay City News in a phone interview on March 27. “I don’t want to discount that. However, I wanted a day that we could celebrate the living. I wanted a day when we could come together as one community all over the world.”
Crocker came up with an idea herself. She created International Transgender Day of Visibility, to be observed on March 31, and decided to spread the word by posting about it on Facebook.
“I contacted trans leaders all over the world telling them about it, asking if they wanted in,” Crocker recalled. One thing led to another, and within a year or two, she said, “it began to snowball, and snowball, and snowball.”
“And now it really is all over the world,” she said.
Crocker founded International Transgender Day of Visibility one decade after the emergence of Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is observed on Nov. 20, and both days have become permanent fixtures on calendars across the LGBTQ community. Of course, they bring different energies — as Crocker explained — but both of them place spotlights on the needs of transgender individuals.
Transgender Day of Remembrance has loomed even larger in the wake of a years-long trend of deadly violence targeting transgender individuals across the country. At least 32 transgender and gender-expansive individuals suffered violent deaths in 2024, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which has monitored cases of violent deaths of trans individuals since 2013. HRC tallied 32 deaths in 2023, as well, after seeing 41 deaths in 2022.
At the same time, transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary Americans have faced fierce political adversity in recent years, with dozens of states passing anti-trans and broader anti-LGBTQ laws. Fears have only grown during President Donald Trump’s second term, which has brought an onslaught of anti-trans executive orders and efforts to erase transgender individuals across many areas of life.
International Transgender Day of Visibility is even more important now, according to Crocker, who believes that the harsh political climate is a key reason why people must band together and remain visible.
“It was almost like the day was created for how things are right now,” Crocker said. “We have to show that we aren’t afraid. We have to show that we’re not going to go into the closet. We have to stand up strong and we have to resist — and that’s exactly what we’re doing right now.”
She added: “Because of what’s happening in Washington, there’s a lot of discrimination against us and people are worried and really scared.”
Crocker said she is marking International Transgender Day of Visibility through speaking engagements, Zoom calls, and at other events — including open mics. Last year, the day fell on Easter, which brought even more publicity — including transphobic attacks by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who blasted former President Joe Biden for recognizing Transgender Day of Visibility on the same day as Easter.
But even before that point, the day was widely known among not just transgender individuals or the broader LGBTQ community, but also among allies who have staged events to show support and foster visibility. Biden recognized Trasngender Day of Visibility every year of his presidency, underscoring just how big of a deal it has become.
Crocker never expected any of it.
“I am really flattered,” she said, referring to the growth of International Transgender Day of Visibility. “I was hoping that maybe a few people would like my idea. I never thought that maybe a few million would.”
Even more than the publicity, the impact of the day itself is what really makes a difference for Crocker, who said she has been told by numerous trans people that they would not be alive if not for International Transgender Day of Visibility.
“And I have heard a lot of people have come out specifically on International Transgender Day of Visibility,” she said. “Transgender people are just like other people. We’re all one.”
Click here to see this year’s Transgender Day of Visibility events planned in New York City.
