National Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) takes place this year on Monday, March 31. In observance, multiple participants and organizations will come together in Charlotte at the Eastway Recreation Center on Sunday, March 30 for the “Kaleidoscope” Mini Market.
Among the participating partners for the event are the Gender Education Network (GEN), Charlotte Black Pride (CBP), Charlotte Trans Health, The Freedom Center, and the host for the event, The Carolinas LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce.
“For the last four or five years for TDOV, we’ve teamed up with basically all of those same organizations for Trans Day of Visibility,” says Rell Lowery, CBP’s Trans Community Liaison. “At one point, everyone was kind of doing their own events, but once we decided to work together … it made it easier for everyone involved, especially during COVID. And because of the relationship we all built, we’ve continued to team up together every year.”
The event is a free resource market for the Charlotte region’s transgender community members, catering to all ages. Among the resources advertised for the 1- 5 p.m. afternoon time slot are free gender-affirming haircuts, vendors for clothes & accessories, free access to STI testing & vaccines, food & housing resources, insurance information, access to a notary and financial planning support services.
There will also be areas at the event for on-site massage therapy, as well as family entertainment with game booths and food.
Along with the host and partners of the event, some of the local vendors expected are Q Fitness & Wellness, The Gaming Lounge, Notary CLT, Quality Comprehensive, PFlag, Hearts United For Good, Mecklenburg County Public Health, Queen City Harm Reduction, Charlotte Pride, State Of Emergency, Moon Massage Therapy, The Holmes Experience, Twirl to The World, Tillman Insurance Advisors, Wedgewood and Fifth Third Bank.
Especially in the current political climate, with the Trump Administration pointedly targeting the transgender community for attack and erasure, local and regional events supporting TDOV are more important than ever.
Twirl to The World posted their thoughts about Trans individuals in our community on social media January 31.
“At Twirl to the World Foundation, we stand in unwavering solidarity with the Transgender (T) community,” the post reads. “We believe that every individual deserves to live authentically, to be respected and to have their identity celebrated. Trans rights are human rights, and we will continue to advocate for a world where everyone, regardless of gender identity, has the freedom to exist without fear of discrimination or violence.”
When asked what kind of message the event should send to the Charlotte community at large, Lowery told Qnotes:
“[I hope it] just reminds them that we’re human,” Lowery said. “First and foremost, we support our community and we appreciate the support [from] the LGBTQ community & our allies. Trans Day of Visibility is something that we look forward to every year, because that’s one day that we have, that we can hope to safely be visible, show our authenticity, surround ourselves with community support and just basically lean on each other, because the rest of the 364 days, as we’ve seen in this first three months, it’s difficult.“With the challenges that we wake up and watch on the news every day, the different laws that are being passed or attempted to be passed against us, that one day is something that we can hold on to in hopes that we continue to show our community that we’re human.”