Students observe Transgender Day of Visibility Elise Hsu March 31 marks Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV), a day for acknowledging the transgender community’s contributions to society and helping them feel accurately represented in the world. According to the blog TransGriot, TDOV was created in 2010 by Rachel Crandall, a trans woman who wanted a day to empower transgender people and celebrate their accomplishments. Crandall also wanted TDOV to be different from Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), which occurs on Nov. 20 and honors members of the trans community who lost their lives due to transphobically-motivated actions. Junior Alex Johnson* identifies as agender, which means they do not strongly identify with any gender. In the context of TDOV, they defined visibility as having representation that is accepting in its depiction of different gender identities. “Having trans representation matters because it not only gives people who have similar experiences comfort in knowing that there are others like them, but also allows people who don’t have those experiences to be more accepting,” Johnson said. Mick*, a junior, agreed that representation helps the trans community recognize that they are not alone. He also took into account members of the trans community who conceal their gender identity. “So many transgender people are closeted; if you live in a non-accepting area and you have to stay closeted for your safety, days like TDOV and having some sense of community are really important,” said Mick, who identifies as a nonbinary transgender male. Both Mick and Johnson remarked that trans representation has improved in recent years. However, that does not mean there is not more work to be done. In 2016, Rick Riordan published “The Hammer of Thor,” the second book in the “Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard” series. One of the central
characters in this book, Alex Fierro, is genderfluid. Many readers applauded Riordan for being inclusive of the transgender community in this work. Mick was among them, but after some reflection, his stance on the character changed. “While Alex Fierro was her own character, it seemed like so much of her was centered around being a genderfluid character among a bunch of cis people,” Mick said. “At the time, I was like, ‘Wow! Trans people are real; this is crazy!’ But looking back on it, I think she deserved more; she deserved to be a fully fleshed-out character and not have her tragic backstory only relating to being trans and her motivation only relating to being trans.” Johnson noted that beyond characterization, other flaws in current transgender representation only shine the spotlight on specific areas within the community. “Of things that are missing from representation, one example could be a focus on non-binary transgender people who don’t identify precisely as either a man or a woman. Both groups do exist, but one is currently receiving a little more focus in some ways,” Johnson said. Mick also believes that some aspects of the trans community receive more visibility than others, asserting that most trans characters have similar storylines. “Everybody’s experience is so different, and it’s really sad to see every example of trans people in the media following the same path, even though that’s not realistic,” Mick said. Misconceptions about the transgender community can spread easily through flaws in representation. These inaccuracies often concern certain aspects of life as a trans person, such as transitioning. “One misconception is that every trans person medically transitions, be it through hormone treatments or surgeries. That is not the case for everyone for a lot of reasons, including cost or other barriers in the way of transitioning, or some may just not want to transition in that way,” Johnson said. However, if transgender representation is full of misconcep-
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