TDOV 2026
My first Trans Day of Visibility since coming out
Today is my first Trans Day of Visibility, and it feels more somber rather than joyful.
It’s more than just the cloudy California sky today or the pain of a sprained hand and wrist.
It’s sitting with the weight of knowing that the Supreme Court chose a day of trans joy to rule that a practice that the UN recognizes as torture, Conversion Therapy, is protected as free speech.
It’s worry for my trans siblings in other states who have lost their rights even to drive, have their correct gender on their IDs, and to even use the restroom outside of their homes.
It’s the ticking countdown clock to your erasure, the legalization of your torture, and horrors that haunt my nightmares’ nightmares.
It’s the pushing past panic attacks so that your real self can be visible.
It’s holding all of that alongside the joy, because I don’t want any of this to rob me of experiencing my first TDOV as myself. And there have certainly been many happy moments, like:
being able to flaunt my new short hair and first-ever guy cut,
(I finally have a hairstyle that makes me look and feel good!!!)
having my course on Trans Linguistics start on TDOV, and
celebrating over the weekend with my local trans community and friends, which included
a baked potato bar
performances from local trans artists
art displays from local trans artists
seeing Ryan Cassata perform (and yes, I signed the flag!), and
an epic drag show!
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I don’t usually take pictures, especially of myself. That’s something I’m trying to change as I transition. So, I thought I would share my look from the TDOV celebration. I felt like a rock star, unless I popped the collar, then I felt like a vampire.
