Here's a Message of Trans Joy in These Challenging Times

Ahead of Trans Day of Visibility, the National Center for Transgender Equality released a video celebrating trans joy featuring four voices from our trans community. Hailing from around the country — Nebraska, Maryland, Georgia, and Texas — Marcus, Jamy, Dionne, and Damien speak about how they find their joy even in these challenging and uncertain times.

The message of joy is especially needed right now at a time when trans people are under attack from politicians around the country seeking to do us harm, scapegoat our community, and erase us from society. Legislators seek to strip away our right to receive health care, participate in sports, express ourselves, learn about our histories, and more.

While it may sometimes seem like being trans means a life of hardship, we know that the reality is that being trans is beautiful, and that so many of us are living, surviving, and thriving.

“When I meet people who have never met a trans person before,” Marcus said in the video, “I want to convey to them that we’re people. We have our own hopes and dreams and our own goals in life, and we are just trying to get by.”

Trans Day of Visibility is about showing the power and beauty of the transgender community. Despite attempts to erase our stories, we’re proudly pushing back with positivity. We know that our lives have meaning and that our lives are joyful.

“I do have hope, and I think that hope resides in the younger generation,” said Damien, a transgender drag performer in Texas. “We’ve gotten really good at not letting people put us down.”

The video not only uplifts trans young people but also honors trans elders and the ways that they have fought for us all to live our best lives.

“It used to be a hell of a lot worse,” said Dionne, an elder trans woman and advocate in Georgia. “But you have the experience of it being better than it was for us. We had no idea – we didn’t even have hope, but we knew we had to fight. But we made it. You can make it too.”

Check out the video below.

Leroy B. Thomas (he/they) is the communications director for the National Center for Transgender Equality/NCTE Action Fund.