Trans Day of Visibility: An Autostraddle Community Photo Gallery

Jessica / 32 / Philadelphia / she/her

Tumblr / Etsy

Why I love being Trans: Honestly I just love everything. Life is still tough, that will never change, but I can look at myself in the mirror and think about where I was a few years ago and how I’m living my life on my own terms now. Since coming out I’ve gotten much more into art again after a long time and I’m starting to sell my work including a burgeoning line of soap and self care goods. One thing I’ll say that I like the most about me physically is my long curls that I’ve been able to grow and give them their literal days in the sun.

Julie/Jay / 28 / LA, California / she/they

Instagram

Grappling with my own gender was an immense struggle for a long time. I am now in a place where I understand that struggle as part of the beauty of being non-binary. I am in flux, always. And I deeply believe trans people are a gift to this world. I am so thankful that I am a part of this community.

L / 24 / Los Angeles, CA / they, them

Instagram

I’m proud to be a transmasculine, nonbinary humxn and have the privilege to work in entertainment/media – an industry with such power and influence on culture and our perceptions of others. Through my work, I’m humbled to bring awareness, build empathy, and stand for and with the trans community in educating others and carving out visibility for us in front of and behind the screen.

Jasper / 24 / Ann Arbor, MI / they/them

Website / Instagram

People find it weird when I say that I love being trans, but I honestly do. I don’t feel constrained in my gender expression anymore and my closest friends are all trans as well. Exploring my LGBT identity spurred me to create my small business and I’ve met so many great people and grown enormously as a person because of it!

Dubbs Weinblatt / 34 / NYC / they/them/theirs /

National Manager of Education and Training at Keshet / Instagram / Twitter / Website / Website

I love being a genderqueer trans person! My top surgery has affirmed my life in ways I never could have even imagined. Being a visible genderqueer trans person is very important to me because I didn’t have anyone to look up to when I was younger and figuring out who I was and I felt all alone. I want to be the queer person I never saw and inspire folks to live their authentic truths!

Keegan Smeza / 27 / Los Angeles / she/her/hers

Instagram

I try to leverage my privilege as a white, able-bodied trans womxn to help make our visibility as trans people a little less radical in some of the least inclusive spaces. You can always find me playing basketball at a local park or performing stand up comedy here in LA.

Lil Williams / TX / they/she

Work / Venmo / Cash App

I’m nonbinary (the white stripe on the big beautiful trans flag). I love being flexible with my presentation, from femme to masc to anywhere around and in between. I’ve been able to experience gender euphoria by supporting my trans siblings by co-founding Q’s, an LGBTQIA+ focus cafe.

Elk Paauw / 27 / Chicago / he/him/his

Instagram / Website

I love being trans because it affirms the fact that I am the one in charge of my own narrative. Only I can define myself, only I know how I want to be, and through that continual re-definition I riotously celebrate the existentialist project of being alive, being human, and being myself.

Lazarus / 26 / Albuquerque / they/them/thatcutieovertheir

Website / Instagram / Venmo / Cash App

I love being a Black queer enby so gosh darn much. I was born into a strong legacy of freedom fighters and badass motherfuckers – the Black and Brown trans femmes that came before me threw bricks to pave the way for me and my kin and I wanna do the same for the next generation. I love the double takes when my earrings bounce off the hair on my face. I love letting my trans voice ring out and crack over microphones. I love meeting eight-year-olds using they/them pronouns and having the deep satisfaction of knowing the kids are alright. I love my community, fiercely and deeply, and am grateful to be sober and safe enough to revel in the magic of the moment. I wouldn’t trade a second of my experience for the world

Evan/26/Boston, MA

Instagram

I’m an early childhood educator and I love being trans and nonbinary because every day I get to show the students that I work with that it’s 100% okay to be completely themselves and express their gender however they want. I have conversations with my young students about gender, race, and immigration, and strive to model living my truth and embracing my identities to encourage them to explore their own identities. Being trans and visible in a field with very few other trans people is often challenging, but allows me to educate my coworkers, children, and their families to expand their definitions of what a teacher looks like.

Jessica Stjohn / 61 / Hollywood / she/her

I am liberated as Trans and I am so proud of how far our community has come. When I am out and presenting as female, I feel empowered and brave and beautiful. All of these things are SO far from where I began, shivering with fear in the dark, afraid to even speak my name, convinced that I was the only boy in the world who desperately wanted to be a girl. I had to wait 50 years for that to happen.  We’ve all come a long way baby!

Reed Brice / 31 / Los Angeles/ they or him or hey girl

Twitter / Instagram

Being a gay trans comedian rules. My friends celebrate (and then immediately dunk on) my crappy beard as it comes in with equal gusto and I cherish each read because it’s happening, like, at all. Being able to not only write in my own voice, but deliver it with my own body? Much better than the frightened and ill-dressed female drag act I was doing for 27 years.
Okay, I’m still ill-dressed BUT I ain’t afraid!

August / 22 / NYC / they/them

GoFundMe

I wish me from 8 years ago could see me today. I didn’t think I’d ever make it here; I truthfully didn’t think I’d live this long. But here I am.

TL Jordan/ 23/ Minnesota/ they/them

Twitter / Instagram / Venmo

Being trans allows me to finally live life the way that I have wanted to for so long. I can flow through my gender and finally find harmony with my body in ways I never thought I could, and being okay when I don’t have that harmony on certain days. Being visible as a trans person has allowed me to learn how to fight more strongly for myself and my trans siblings.

AC Dumlao / 28 / Brooklyn, NY / They/Them/Theirs

Instagram / Website / Patreon

I am so lucky to have the privilege to live visibility as not only a trans nonbinary person, but also as a queer person, a person of color, and a child of immigrants. In discovering my gender, I discovered that I could embrace all parts of myself, and that is the greatest joy of my life.

Joia Nicholson / 24 / Chicago / zhe/ze

Youtube / GoFundMe

I’m agender, asexual,and biracial so my experiences and perspectives of the world are unique. As an artist/musician, these things are reflected by my work. By coming out, I was able to encourage others to be proud and open about who they are too and that has been amazing. I’ve also met some interesting people and that’s probably the best part!

louise / Singapore/ they/them

photo credit: Paul Stringer

Coming out as non-binary felt like a perfect way to express how I’d been living all along. When I get to be in spaces that see me and accept me as I am, I stop fearing for my safety and start letting myself dream about the many things I actually want to try in life. It’s nourishing and it warms me from the inside the way homemade loaves of bread fresh from the oven do.

Brynne / 26  / they/them or ae/aer

Twitter

I love being genderfluid because I don’t have to force myself into a binary.  I can finally use the name and pronouns that fit who I truly am and allow my identity to be as complex and fluid and wonderful as I am.

Alice Blank / 24 / SoCal / She/Her/Hers

Instagram / Tumblr / Twitter

When I was younger I thought I wouldn’t like to live to be this old, but owning my identity has changed all that. I can love and be loved sincerely – it’s worth the world.

Zoe / 30 / Baltimore, MD / they/them

Instagram / Youtube

About me: As a nonbinary queer person of color I have grown and learned to not let those identifiers hold me down or box me in. I love that I am multifaceted and full of energy to share and inspire others. By day I am an elementary special educator, and when I’m not teaching, grading, or lesson planning, I am dedicated to becoming the strongest person I can be through powerlifting. The weights have given me even more confidence in my body and allow me a positive outlet for any anger I may build up day to day.

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Ari

Ari is a 20-something artist and educator. They are a mom to two cats, they love domesticity, ritual, and porch time. They have studied, loved, and learned in CT, Greensboro, NC, and ATX.

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31 Comments

  1. Shawty! I love your choice of pronouns Al(aina) lol.

    You / we are all valid and fabulous. That goes to those of you who can’t be visible today. I see you all and I love you all.

  5. Thank you for this article so, so much. Signed, lesbian mother of a teenage trans son <3

  6. Omg this is so beautiful. Just over here weeping with joy at this celebration of trans life. Thank you for putting this together. Happy TDOV!

  19. This is amazing. Thanks for putting this together, Al, and thank all the participants for being visible.

    I see you today, tomorrow and always.

  20. Does anyone have any tips on what to do when you’ve just fallen in love with ~100 strangers in a very short amount of time?

  22. Love this, love you all!!

    Anna ~ it’s lovely to see you here and I didn’t realize we share the same eye colour!

    This is my favorite post so far this year 😄

  27. i love this so so much, thank you for putting the gallery together al(aina) and thank you to everyone who participated <3 y’all are beautiful.

  28. What an uplifting experience to see so many beautiful kind sexy babes saying Hello.

    The messages of Joy and Freedom and Love, Wow !

    Thank you to each and every one of you.

  29. I’m a few days late, but this article and all of the amazing words/pictures shared filled my heart with so much joy!

Comments are closed.