Today Is The Trans Day of Visibility, So Let's Celebrate Some Trans Actors and Celebrities!

Today is the Trans Day of Visibility - a day dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of trans people, as well as their bravery to be who they truly are in spite of a world that is not always kind to them.

Today, we'd like to celebrate some trans people who are near and dear to our hearts, and who have done things to help their trans and gender non-conforming siblings around the world feel more seen, more loved, and less alone.

Today is also a day to talk about pressing trans issues - because, unfortunately, much as we would like to simply be able to celebrate trans people, their very right to exist is being threatened by lawmakers every day. This is especially true in states like Florida, which recently passed the horrific and dangerous "Don't Say Gay" Bill, which, among other things, requires any teacher who finds out one of their students is gay or trans to report them to the school, and their parents, within six weeks, or risk losing their jobs or worse.

This bill is dangerous for queer kids, especially those whose families might see fit to send them to a psychologically damaging program like conversion therapy, which is unfortunately still legal in many forms across the U.S.

Worse, as of February 22, a directive written by Governor Greg Abbott made it so that children can be taken away from parents who provide them with gender-affirming care on the grounds of child abuse, which is so ridiculous I need to break my professional persona for a moment and write that Greg Abbott is a spineless piece of human garbage who makes my blood boil.

There are many other states currently pushing anti-trans bills in some form or another, and many activists have been sharing this post full of actions people can take to help:

If you're looking for further resources or ways to help, here is a link to GLSEN - the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network - where you can find more information on a number of related topics and issues, suggestions for next steps to take if you're looking to help, and a place to make donations. There are plenty of options for things you can do to help.

Now that we've got the unfortunately dreary stuff out of the way, let's move on to celebrating some awesome trans people we've covered of late, and hear what they have to say about their experiences.

Indya Moore

Indya Moore is like a one-person entertainment Swiss-Army Knife: They're an actress, a writer, a model, a director, and a social activist. They're also the founder of a production company Beetlefruit Media. You may know Indya Moore as Angel from the popular LGBTQ+ show Pose, but they have irons in a lot of different fires, from the tween movie A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting to 2019's Queen and Slim.

Indya Moore is nonbinary, which means they don't identify as either male or female, and prefer that others use the pronouns they or them when referring to them.

The nonbinary experience isn't a monolith, but is rather varied and complex - no two nonbinary people are likely to experience gender in the exact same way. Some say they prefer that others think of them as an experience and don't want to be limited by the simple constraints of male versus female; others say they simply cannot comprehend gender at all.

For Indya Moore, however, it's now even bigger than just them. The star even started keeping a "misgender jar" on the set of Pose - any time someone misgendered someone else on set, they'd put some money in the jar, and the money would eventually go to charity. As they told THR in 2019:

"I created a [GoFundMe] people can donate to. I'm giving that back to the community, whatever funds we raise. My choice to identify as nonbinary - though I typically express in femme ways - is to constantly disrupt the notion of the gender construct. Binaries force us into performative expectations that none of us purely live up to, and when we choose to live outside of those expectations we experience violence - trans and gender-variant people experience the worst kinds. Gender binaries aren't just harmful to people who are trans and queer, they are harmful to all of us."

Elliot Page

When Elliot first came out as trans, he said there weren't any plans to change Vanya's gender - but creator of the story and frontman for My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way, was not having that.

Though Page hasn't yet spoken at length about who was behind the decision to transition his character, rumors have said that it was Way himself who insisted on the change, as the musician has always been in the business of supporting marginalized people.

This decision probably also had a lot to do with this feeling that Page described to Vanity Fair after he first came out:

"What has happened the most since coming out to people close to me is this massive explosion of creativity. One of my best friends and I wrote our first screenplay, and I'm developing something else now, and I made some music with a friend. I think of all the energy and time that was going towards feeling uncomfortable, constantly checking my body, just feeling unwell. And I've got a new ability to explore creatively and write, and just how much I'm reading-that's been really amazing.

"In terms of acting, I don't think I quite know yet. I am just a lot more f**king comfortable and present, so it's hard to imagine that that's not affecting the work, because, really, being present's ultimately what you're going for-you're just ultimately trying to crack open and be present and connect to the truth of a moment. So I'm imagining the more I get to embody who I am and exist in the body I want to exist in, there'll be a difference."

Amy Schneider

Amy Schneider is an amazing trans woman who is now the record-holder for longest Jeopardy win streak EVER - the engineering manager won the popular game show 40 times in a row before finally being dethroned. Today, Schneider is actually on her way to the White House!

No doubt related to the Trans Day of Visibility, it looks like Amy Schneider will get to meet President Joe Biden today, where she will no doubt discuss with him some of the issues highlighted earlier in this article. Schneider has known her share of struggles related to being trans, and, like many others like her, wants to do everything in her power to prevent other people from having to suffer those same injustices.

But what's also cool about Schneider is that, not being a celebrity by profession, she represents a lot of the "regular" trans people out there: Average Joes and Josephines who, aside from swapping an M for an F or vice versa, just want to see their experiences normalized.

"I think that the best part for me has been being on TV as my true self, expressing myself and representing the entire community of trans people. And just kind of showing a different thing than maybe some people have seen, of just being a smart, confident woman and just doing something super normal like being on Jeopardy!

"I am a trans woman, and I'm proud of that fact, but I'm a lot of other things, too!"

Zaya Wade

Zaya Wade is the daughter of basketball star Dwayne Wade, and stepdaughter to actress Gabrielle Union.

There was a large media uproar when the public found out that Zaya - who came out to her family at age 12 - was trans, especially because the communities around basketball and sports in general tend to have more stigma related to gender expression than other professions like filmmaking. Wade, however, describes her as "one of the greatest teachers of his life."

Apparently, Wade and Union noticed as early as when she was 3 that Zaya might not be the boy they originally thought she was.

"I come from a locker room of a macho, male-dominant sport. But I started learning and I started to watch her. And from then on we started having more conversations."

Now 13, Zaya has already come out to her parents and met Michelle Obama, and her parents want to stress how amazing they think she is - and not just because she's trans. Because she's a whole person and it's amazing to see someone what someone that young can do when they're not afraid to be their most authentic self.

"Zaya is more than that. Zaya is a 14-year-old amazing girl, who since she stepped into her classroom on day one has never gotten lower than A. She's a young kid who is trying to fit in with other kids at school, trying to get to the point where she is trying to date.

"She's my daughter. She's beautiful and she has so many other great qualities that she is tapping into that everyone is starting to see."

When I look at Zaya, I get hope, because I'm like, okay, we raised [our kids] to be authentic."

Ruby Guest

Ruby Guest is none other than the trans daughter of famous actress Jamie Lee Curtis, and we just want to give her a little shout out today, because Ruby is getting married soon!

She's also having what will be, we cannot stress enough, one of the coolest, most non-traditional wedding ceremonies we've ever seen in our lives.

As she explained in a recent interview, Jamie Lee Curtis will be officiating Ruby's ceremony - which, like her sister Annie's, will take place in their backyard. However, she will be doing so dressed in battle armor from the game World of Warcraft.

In fact, everyone will be in costume for the wedding, including the brides, becuase Ruby Guest and her fiance are having a cosplay wedding, where everyone has been instructed to show up dressed as a different character.

It's sure to be a fun and unique ceremony, and it illustrates something that trans people already teach us - that just because something has always been done one way doesn't mean you can't, or shouldn't, do it your own way if it makes you happy.

Jamie Lee Curtis' take on her role in Ruby's journey has also been very helpful to many family members of trans people who aren't sure how to handle such a big change in their own lives. She told People in October:

"It's learning new terminology and words. I am new at it. I am not someone who is pretending to know much about it. And I'm going to blow it, I'm going to make mistakes. I would like to try to avoid making big mistakes.

"You slow your speech down a little. You become a little more mindful about what you're saying. How you're saying it. You still mess up, I've messed up today twice. We're human. But if one person reads this, sees a picture of Ruby and me and says, 'I feel free to say this is who I am,' then it's worth it."

And Ruby responded:

"You've done the most you can, and that's all I want. Helping others is something everyone should do. I don't think it's only our household thing. It should be a human thing."

Tags

Elliot page, Dwayne Wade, Gabrielle Union, Gerard Way, Joe biden, Michelle Obama