Ridgefield Pride to Mark International Transgender Day of Visibility

Ridgefield Pride has announced plans to mark International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) locally in Ridgefield. Ridgefield Pride’s TDOV observance will include awareness displays by participating local businesses and an art installation.

TDOV falls annually on March 31, and is dedicated to celebrating transgender people, recognizing their existence throughout all human history, acknowledging their contributions to all human society, and raising awareness of the discrimination faced by transgender people. “International TDOV was created in 2010 by trans advocate Rachel Crandall in response to the overwhelming majority of media stories about transgender people being focused on their being the victims of hate-motivated violence. She hoped to create a day where people could celebrate the lives of transgender people, while simultaneously acknowledging that due to discrimination, not every trans person can or wants to be visible.” [GLAAD]

“In 2026, the poignancy and urgency of Transgender Day of Visibility is elevated owing to the current hostile climate in the United States and certain other countries toward transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people,” according to Ridgefield Pride founder and Executive Director, Alisa Trachtenberg. Ridgefield Pride is focusing its efforts around TDOV 2026 to celebrate transgender people, raise awareness of their contributions to our community, state, country and world, expose falsehoods and highlight fundamental truths, including, but not limited to:

1. Historically Documented Contributors: Transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people are well-documented to have existed throughout recorded human history, welcomed and revered in societies across the globe, making contributions across all spheres of human accomplishment, including in western Christian civilizations [PBS Independent Lens, 2023];

2. Extremely Low Likelihood to Be Predators, Most Likely to be Victims: In absolute terms and on a per capita basis, trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people are amongst the least likely to commit violence or sexual assault [Politifact, Sept 2025], but among the most likely to be victims of violence or sexual assault [UCLA School of Law, March 2021];

3. NOT a Social Contagion, NOT Experimental: Transgender care, including care for transgender youth, is not new, not experimental, and amongst the least regretted [Journal of Adolescent Health, 2024] and most thoroughly vetted of healthcare and medical interventions practiced in the United States and around the world;

4. The Current Legal Attacks on Trans Rights Tracks the Patterns of Jim Crow and Genocide. [Lemkin Institute, March 2026].

Ridgefield Pride is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Ridgefield, CT with the mission to foster belonging, provide support, and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in Ridgefield and beyond. Ridgefield Pride participates in the Regional Suicide Advisory Board and the Ridgefield Community-Led Suicide Prevention coalition and provides resources and information for the trans community and allies on its website, https://ridgefieldpride.org.