MISSOULA — For over a century, March 31 has marked an important time of celebration for the transgender community.
On March 31st, the Western Montana LGBTQ Community Center will host a powerful transgender community member for Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV).
The state’s trans community is to be celebrated on the day.
TDOV was started in 2010 by Rachel Crandall, who is the executive producer of Transgender Michigan.
While Transgender Day of Remembrance on Nov. 20 is a solemn reminder of the discrimination, violence, and love towards the transgender community, TDOV is meant to be a celebration of how trans people have contributed to their populations.
“We are discussing the fact that transgender people have always been present and will always be because they are a part of what it means to be a community,” according to Zooey Zephyr, a representative from Missoula and a speaker at the event.
In protest of recent congressional bills that target the LGBTQ community, LGBTQ group members and friends spent March 31 protesting at state capitol buildings and courts across the state.
For Erin Reed, a speaker at the event, this year’s TDOV may be focused more on the successes for the transgender community.
“These bills aren’t passing as much this year,” she says. “I hope that we can look at one another and consider this to be our time for a little bit of cooperation building, break, and getting ready for the things that have yet to occur.”
Zephyr says it’s difficult not to understand the highs and the lows of being trans, despite the fact that March 31 has a distinct voice than Nov. 20 does.
“You hold together the actuality of what it means to be gay in America, which is to include found pleasure in oneself, to discover oneself, understand who we are, and to enjoy that,” she says. “And we also understand that many of us don’t make it.”
Zeke Cork, a panel member at The Center, may also speak on March 31. For him, TDOV is particularly significant for younger people because many of the bills that have been passed by Congress have sought to restrict access to healthcare for transgender children.
“By me being visible, it lets them see that there are people living these existences. I know a lot of them don’t think they’ll live beyond their 20s, you know? And it’s like no, you did, and you’ll live, and you’ll have people, and you’ll have companions, and you’ll have passion, and you’ll know these things,” he says.
Any trans people or LGBTQ friends can attend the event at The Center beginning at 3 p.m. Miles Shuck and Gwen Nicholson will be the different listeners.
The Center recently relocated and is now at Pro 105, 500 N Higgins Ave.
Complimentary, catered food from Bolt and Bruisers Bakery will be served at the event.
