Celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility

Mar 30, 2023 LGBTQ

Celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility

“You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights.” - Marsha P. Johnson, transgender activist

The trans and gender-non conforming community has a long and storied history of blazing political trails for all people to pursue justice and live more authentic lives. By tirelessly advocating for bodily autonomy, self-determination, and political visibility, generations of trans advocates have broken crucial ground for other social justice movements to follow in their footsteps. This Transgender Day of Visibility, Compassion & Choices is celebrating the remarkable political and cultural contributions of trans people, and listening to the experiences of trans and gender-non conforming staff members about their perspective on the end-of-life options movement.

Finn Flowers, Senior Communications Associate at Compassion & Choices, explained the intersection between advocacy for the rights of trans people and advocacy for all people at the end of life. “How we live and how we die [are] incredibly personal and nuanced experience(s)... I believe it's up to us to decide how we live in our bodies throughout our lifespan, including its conclusion, and is not something that should be regulated by outside third parties that know nothing about our internal and life experiences.” 

Given the current political hostilities threatening trans people in national media outlets and state legislatures across the country, Transgender Day of Visibility is more relevant than ever. 43 states have introduced anti-trans legislation in 2023. This increasingly vitriolic political climate highlights the need for urgent support for, and solidarity with, the trans and gender-non conforming community.

“Currently, dozens of states are making it more difficult or outright impossible for us to get hormones and surgery in an attempt to force us to detransition.” said Callie Riley, Northwest Regional Advocacy Manager at Compassion & Choices. “While the degree of attention being paid to [transgender people] at this moment is new, transphobia is not. In that context, I think it's important to lift up the community care and mutual aid work of my trans ancestors. We have cared for each other when systems and institutions failed us as they are failing us today… Empowering people to decide what kind of care is right for them, and giving them the tools they need to access that care, is central to the work we do at Compassion & Choices, and across the end-of-life options movement broadly.”

People in the trans and gender-non conforming community often face traumatizing experiences in health care settings, especially at the end of life, such as lack of respect for advance directives by medical practitioners, conflicting authority and instructions from blood relatives versus chosen loved ones and refusal to provide gender affirming care at end of life. Compassion & Choices is dedicated to advocating for the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming people to live authentically throughout their lives, including in their end-of-life journey. Whether it’s care advocacy that focuses on providing LGBTQ+ resources, or legal advocacy that ensures advanced directives are honored, Compassion & Choices is committed to ensuring that everyone can achieve an end-of-life experience according to their wishes.  

Marsha P. Johnson, a seminal leader of the transgender rights movement of the 1980s, said it best: “You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights.” Compassion & Choices represents individuals from all walks of life, and continues to prioritize the values of our staff, supporters and volunteers. Together, we can achieve end-of-life care for everyone that reflects individual values and priorities.