Content warning: This story discuss anti-trans ideology and violence, and mentions self-harm and suicide.
Each year, we celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31, a day to commemorate trans people and recognize the importance of visibility. This year, advocates will gather on the National Mall, about a mile from the White House, during a time when the second Trump administration has issued a flurry of Executive Orders attacking trans, gender-nonconforming, and LGBTQ+ Americans more widely.
Signed on Trump’s first day back in office, an Executive Order proclaimed that the United States would only recognize male and female genders, and formed the backbone of actions taken by the administration, which advocates say further marginalize transgender and nonbinary Americans. “These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” Trump’s January 20 Executive Order stated.
The knock-on impacts of this order are developing, but far reaching. Thus far, Americans are no longer able to change the gender marker on their passports, federal agencies have been instructed to block trans employees from using facilities like restrooms that match their gender, and the National Park Service web page dedicated to the Stonewall Uprising was stripped of any mention of transgender people.
Trans people were a key part of the Stonewall riots, which are widely considered to have sparked the LGBTQ rights movement. Icons like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were at the forefront of the uprising and of the subsequent movement. Since the 2009 establishment of the International Transgender Day of Visibility, the imperative for active visibility of transgender Americans has been fraught, and this year is no different. Ahead of this year’s celebrations, gatherings, and actions, Teen Vogue spoke with Angelica Christina, Board Director of the official nonprofit of The Stonewall Inn, Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative to get a sense of the current atmosphere in turmoil for transgender Americans.
Edited for clarity and length.
Teen Vogue: This is a moment that, for many trans people and their extended communities, feels rife with danger. Why is the need for sanctuary and safe spaces more important than ever?
Angelica Christina: What we’re witnessing right now is a violent attack on trans folks and the trans community. There are trans folks and their families that are either leaving their homes for what few safe zones we have in this country because they’re stuck in a red state, some are leaving the country altogether, and then there are those who simply don’t have the means to move. We’re truly living in very dangerous and precarious times. As of late 2024, TransLash media reported there were 692 [proposed] anti-trans bills, and now in March 2025 these disgusting bills and Executive Orders just keep piling up. In this current political climate, trans people are in the fight of our lives. We are criminalizing trans, nonbinary, and intersex folks for existing more than the actual criminals committing crimes in this country. This is the nightmare that trans folks are facing in America. This is why it’s so important to have a day like Trans Day of Visibility. This is why it’s so important to have support, to have especially cisgender folks in positions of privilege to show up for us and rally for us, because we are in the fight of our lives. This is a war on trans, nonbinary, and intersex folk.
AC: I don’t want to mince words here: stripping trans youth of their gender affirming care is a death sentence. Gender-affirming care is lifesaving, and I can personally speak to that experience. You already experience relentless bullying in schools and [trans youth] are at high risk of suicide as a result of the attacks on their identity. I’d also like a mention a study from the Trevor Project from 2024 that showed suicide attempts by trans and non-binary youth had increased [up to] 72% over the past year as a result of anti-trans legislation. These Executive Orders create an even larger target on their backs for cisgender students to continue attacking and harming transgender youth, further pushing them towards self harm, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and in some cases, suicide. Gender affirming care is often the only shred of hope and joy that our vulnerable youth can hold onto. In November of last year, the Journal of American Medical Association released a study showing the vast majority of recipients of gender affirming care were cisgender youth, not trans youth.
