Each year on March 31, the world marks International Transgender Day of Visibility as a time to raise awareness around the discrimination that people who are transgender experience and celebrate people who are transgender from around the world who courageously live their lives openly and authentically.
So far in 2020, more than 200 bills in 18 states been proposed to dehumanize LGBTQIA people. Many of these bills specifically target transgender kids.
Given that transgender youth are more likely than their cisgender contemporaries to be abandoned by peers and adults they trust, forced from their homes, and attempt to die by suicide, it is important to not only oppose these bills, but also to support these children.
By showing our support, we also establish important protective factors for these youth. Studies show that when an LGBTQIA adolescent has even one trusted adult they can turn to for support, their risk of attempting suicide drops by more than 40 percent. And when parents accept their LGBTQIA child for who they are, their risk of self-harming behaviors decreases by more than half.
In other words, showing support for transgender kids can help save lives.
PFLAG, the first and largest organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, their parents and families, and allies, created the #TransKids #SoFierce campaign to support those who powerful people are trying to take down—while letting lawmakers know they can’t get away with it.
NASW is proud to partner with PFLAG invites you to participate in this campaign by asking individuals in your networks to take a video or post a photo and personalize the messages starting March 31, 2020, International Transgender Day of Visibility. You can share your organization’s contact information and links.
We ask that you tag @PFLAG or use the hashtag #PFLAG and #NASW so we can help share the inspirational support of trans kids.
