March 31 in Long Beach will officially become Transgender Day of Visibility.
The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday asked the city attorney to draft a resolution officially recognizing the day that is meant to bring public awareness to experiences, achievements and continued struggles faced by transgender people.
The day is used largely for celebration but also advocacy. Transgender rights advocates from across the nation are expected to gather on the National Mall later this month, just as celebrations are slated to take place in major U.S. cities such as New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Locally, the LGBTQ Center Long Beach will host a celebration on Sunday, March 30 at the Bixby Park Recreation Center (130 Cherry Ave.) starting at 1 p.m.
The city already raised the Progress Pride Flag and the Transgender Pride Flag outside its Civic Chambers in Downtown Long Beach in November. The City Council voted to recognize every Nov. 20 as Transgender Day of Remembrance, commemorating transgender people who have been killed and supporting their rights amid what many denounce as an increasingly hostile national environment.
“We acknowledge that under this federal administration that the LGBTQ+ community and the trans community in particular has faced elevated levels of discrimination, dehumanization,” said Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson. “We know this has taken place in courtrooms, in public spaces, in state houses all around the country. People in power have taken steps to roll back hard-fought civil and human liberties of LGBTQ people.”
Officials said their decision to raise the issue comes in response to actions at the federal level, specifically by the Administration of President Donald Trump. The president since taking office has repeatedly targeted the trans community.
Among the flurry of executive orders Trump signed in January was one that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.” In response, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy meant to disqualify transgender people from military service.
In a separate proclamation, he made it official U.S. policy that only two sexes, male and female, exist.
But there have been some recent “small wins,” said Councilmember Megan Kerr, alluding to two decisions made Tuesday.
One came from a federal judge in Washington, D.C., who overturned a ban on transgender people in the military, arguing it violates their constitutional rights.
Another decision Tuesday came in Ohio, where a three-judge panel on the 10th District Court of Appeals ruled the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors was unconstitutional.
“This is a critical victory for transgender youth and their families across Ohio,” American Civil Liberties Union Senior Staff Attorney Harper Seldin said in a statement. “The state’s ban is discriminatory, baseless, and a danger to the well-being of the same Ohioan youth lawmakers claim to want to protect. It’s also part of a sweeping effort to drive trans people out of public life altogether by controlling our health care, our families, and our lives.”
Talking about the recent orders and rulings, Councilmember Megan Kerr said that “the national tenor has left many in fear to go out and express their true selves” — even on days like the Day of Transgender Visibility.
“… The irony is heartbreaking as attempts to erase the contributions and existence of the trans community cast a shadow over a day that should be filled with pride and joy that comes with true self-expression and long-held American belief in personal freedom,” she said.