International Transgender Day of Visibility aims to celebrate the transgender community, while also drawing attention to discrimination and attacks faced by transgender and non-binary people. This issue couldn’t be more relevant today as state legislatures around the country are passing anti-trans bills.
We would like to highlight this courageous story from the Nebraska legislature. Machaela Cavanaugh, a Nebraska state senator, has engaged in a filibuster since February to prevent an anti-trans bill from becoming law. This bill would criminalize certain medicine and health care procedures for trans people under the age of 19. This filibuster has snarled virtually all action in the Nebraska state legislature.
We would also like to highlight this video on NBC News that includes an interview with actress and GLAAD (the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy group) Board Member, Peppermint, and Executive Director of the National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, Carter Brown. They discuss how to be a respectful ally to the transgender community amid this waive of harmful legislation.