(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden commemorated the Transgender Day of Visibility by announcing new measures aimed at making the federal government more inclusive, in the face of what his administration called “dangerous anti-transgender” legislative attacks from different states.
These measures included a new “X” gender marker on U.S. passport applications beginning on April 11 and the implementation of a gender-neutral Transportation Security Administration scanner. Biden’s administration is aiming to expand the availability of these “X” gender markers to airlines and federal travel programs.
At the White House, visitors will also soon be able to select an “X” gender marker during the screening process to get into the executive mansion. And the Department of Health and Human Services will be the first agency to fly a trans pride flag.
The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, said the Transgender Day of Visibility, held every year on March 31, is a time to acknowledge the courage it takes “to live openly and authentically.”
“Transgender and non-binary people are our friends, our neighbors, our colleagues, our family and our loved ones,” Joni Madison, the Human Rights Campaign’s interim president, said. “As we celebrate International Transgender Day of Visibility, we must continue to shine a light on the epidemic of violence impacting Black and Brown transgender women and the discriminatory, dangerous bills being pushed through state legislatures around the country.”
Bills Madison referenced could “prevent schools from being safe for trans and non-binary students, prevent trans-student-athletes from playing sports, cut off access to age-appropriate, medically-necessary health care and more.”
One of the most prominent examples of the legislation Madison is talking about is the bill critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” law recently signed by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, which bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through the third grade.
While advocates for the bill have said these are topics parents should discuss with their own children, critics have said the law demonizes LGBTQ people by excluding them from classroom discussion.
Another move by politicians Madison criticized was the directive by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to have the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services investigate parents who get their transgender children gender-affirming medical care. Under the recommendation— which is not an executive order or official law— the parents could be convicted of child abuse.
Biden has also previously slammed this directive, saying in a statement that Abbott’s action “callously threatens to harm children and their families just to score political points.”
While activists are using the Transgender Day of Visibility as a time to shed light on the challenges trans people face, they are also using it to celebrate the progress they say has been made.
“Visibility matters, and so many transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming Americans are thriving,” Biden said in a proclamation marking the day. “Like never before, they are sharing their stories in books and magazines; breaking glass ceilings of representation on television and movie screens; enlisting — once again — to serve proudly and openly in our military; getting elected and making policy at every level of government; and running businesses, curing diseases, and serving our communities in countless other ways.”
“Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider, the first openly transgender winner on the quiz show, will visit the White House on Thursday to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff. The second gentleman and Admiral Rachel Levine, the assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, will also host a conversation with transgender kids and their parents at the White House.
