March 31 marks Trans Day of Visibility

On this Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV), we celebrate the joy and resilience of transgender and genderqueer people in our churches and our communities. TDOV, observed on March 31, is a time to affirm the presence, dignity and contributions of trans and gender nonconforming people.

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We affirm that gender nonconforming people are visible in scripture as eunuchs. Using today's terms we might consider them genderqueer, not operating within conventional gender norms. This connects with the experiences of transgender, non-binary, and intersex people and also gender non-conforming butches, twinks, drag queens, kings, and monarchs. God calls eunuchs as prophets (Nehemiah), teachers (Hegai in Esther 2:3-15), and missionaries (the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:26-40).

Today, in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), trans, non-binary, intersex, and genderqueer people serve as pastors, elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, ushers and in all kinds of leadership roles. God does not call genderqueer people in spite of our gender identity but promises to build monuments and give us names “better than sons and daughters” beyond the binary of male and female (Isaiah 56:4-6).

In our present political moment in this country, there are efforts to reduce the visibility of trans and genderqueer people in education, sports and through bodily changes in health care. These efforts are sometimes bipartisan, like legislation in West Virginia to statements from California’s governor. It is a scary time for Trans people. These actions are part of a broader wave of anti-LGBTQ+ backlash that includes efforts to undermine gay marriage and other fundamental rights. In times such as these, visibility is not just an act of celebration; it is a witness against injustice.

TDOV falls in the Lenten season, where Christians traditionally have fasted or given something up or taken something on as a spiritual discipline. We invite Christians to consider instead of giving up chocolate to give up on concepts that fail to feed us spiritually. Let us not fast from dinner but fast from oppressive ideologies.

We call on Christians to fast from ableism, where bodies are too often expected to work or appear one way and where minds are too often expected to process information and emotions in one way when we know God has made us in so many different ways. God calls us to celebrate positive differences and accommodate disabilities. We call on Christians to fast from diet culture, where (queer) beauty is so often tied to thinness.

We call on Christians to fast from perfectionism or thinking there's any "right way" to be: none of us will be the perfect ally, be perfect with new friends’ pronouns, have a perfect body, or have a perfect life, and not because we are unworthy — we know we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) but “perfection” exists only in Christ Jesus (Hebrews 5:9).

Trans joy is nourished not by the fear and restriction of human institutions but by the abundant life that Christ offers. The psalmist proclaims, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8), an invitation to trust in the God who feeds us with love and justice. And at the Last Supper, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, saying, “This is my body, given for you” (Luke 22:19). Christ’s body, broken and transformed, reveals resurrection power. So too, trans bodies are joyful bodies and are part of God’s redemptive story.

And we remember now, like we do every celebration of the Lord’s Supper, that through breaking bread, Christ’s body was ripped into two. In the promise of new life that we are given, we too are promised transformation. It is through the changing of our bodies, sometimes even the tearing of it, through ripping new clothes and surgical cuts, that Trans people experience joy and can see transformation become possible.

In Acts 8:26-40, Philip meets the Ethiopian Eunuch, a court official returning from worship in Jerusalem, likely having been denied access to the temple because of their gender presentation. As the two read scripture together, the Eunuch asks, “What is to prevent me from being baptized?” Philip, seeing the Eunuch’s full humanity and worth, baptizes them immediately. The Eunuch becomes the first convert to Christianity from outside of Israel and, after their baptism, scripture tells us goes on their way rejoicing.

Hard times call for a time to cry, a time to lament (Lamentations 1:16). But scripture also tells us just as it is important to feel the feelings of sadness, in the same verse that there is also a time to dance (Ecclesiastes 3:4-5). We should remember trans joy is resistance. Trans visibility is found in drag brunches, in reading groups, in gay bars, in laughing with chosen family, sitting anxiously at the clinic, and in worshiping together in affirming communities. It is found in every trans person who claims their name and their identity with boldness. It is witnessed by every cisgender ally who makes a stand against injustice.

On this Trans Day of Visibility, we affirm that trans people are beloved, visible, and full of joy. We celebrate trans and genderqueer people and we commit to ensuring that trans visibility is not merely symbolic, but met with justice, affirmation, and love. God desires life for all of us, not mere survival. Jesus came that we may have life abundantly (John 10:10).

May we all go on our way rejoicing.