International Transgender Day Of Visibility: Things You Should Know

New Delhi: To recognize the resilience and accomplishments of the transgender community, around the world, March 31 is celebrated as Transgender Day of Visibility. The aim of the day is to celebrate the trans people, raise awareness about the struggles that they face, and advocate for more protected rights and empower the community.

Here are some of the other things that you must know about the day:

Who Founded Transgender Day Of Visibility?

In 2009, the day was founded by Rachel Crandall, a U.S. based transgender activist.

Also Read: Exclusive: Laxmi Narayan Tripathi On The First National Conclave of Transgenders

Motto and Aim Of The Day

Rachel Crandall founded the day with a motto to bring a day of ‘visibility’ for the transgender community and raise awareness against the discrimination that transgender people face in their day-to-day life.

Also Read: From Abhijit To Abhina Aher, Here’s The Story Of A 45-Year-Old Transgender Activist

When Did The Day Gained Popularity?

The day gained popularity when in 2014, the day was observed by activists in Ireland and Scotland, while in 2015, when many transgender people took part in the event by participating in social media campaigns. They successfully made the day go viral by posting selfies and personal stories. In 2021, US President Joe Biden officially proclaimed March 31, 2021, as a Transgender Day of Visibility, proclaiming in part, “I call upon all Americans to join in the fight for full equality for all transgender people.” The White House also published this proclamation; which made Joe Biden the first American president to issue a formal presidential proclamation recognizing the Transgender Day of Visibility.

Also Read: The Challenging Journey From Satya To Sadhana Of 35-year-old Transgender Activist From Odisha

Theme Of The Day

The Transgender Day of Visibility is not marked with one particular theme; however, the day is celebrated across the world in its own unique ways. In some places, Trans Marches take place, which are organised by trans communities to build community, address human rights struggles, and create visibility, while at some places, celebrations take place on social media platform, which sees the community coming together and holding a discussion, thereby educating the masses.

In India, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has launched a first-of-its-kind campaign highlighting the rights of trans children ahead of the ‘International Transgender Day of Visibility’. The campaign “Unbox Me”, launched, along with a two minute and 10 seconds film on the issue talks about secrecy and hiding that most such children go through.

“Now, influential Indian and international personalities are revealing these hidden childhood treasures of transgender people on social media, in an effort to symbolically unbox their secret to the world and open the conversation for so many transgender children out there,” UNAIDS said explaining the campaign.

With this initiative, UNAIDS aims to travel to schools across India spreading the message to teachers, students and parents.

Facts About Transgender Community

According to the Health data released from the largest-ever study of transgender and gender non-conforming people in the United States, more than 50 per cent of LGBTQ individuals experience some form of discrimination while seeking medical treatment — whether it be the absence of proper gender designation on medical intake forms or blatant refusal to provide specific and necessary services.

Whereas,  as per a study by the Indian Journal for Psychological Medicine, 31 per cent of transgender people in India end their life by committing suicide, and 50 per cent of them have attempted suicide at least once before their 20th birthday.

Also Read: Have Always Believed In The Concept Of Leaving No One Behind: Ravi Bhatnagar On His Win At The National Transgender Awards

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity,  that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.