Reflections about the Transgender Day of Visibility - 31 March 2026

A global perspective offered by Elders in South Africa and the United States

Rev. Elder Nokuthula Dhladhla, South Africa 

The Transgender Day of Visibility is a day when we pause to see, honor, and lift up the living. It is a moment to recognize the courage of those who show up in the world as their authentic selves, even when the world does not always make space for them.

For me, visibility means showing up as I am without shrinking myself. It means refusing to hide the parts of my identity that society has often told us should remain silent or invisible. It means standing in the fullness of who I am as a woman of faith, as an African, as a queer person, and as a leader without apologizing for my existence.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to stand on different platforms, to speak in spaces of faith, advocacy, and leadership. Each time I show up visibly, I am reminded that visibility is not only about me. Often, when one person stands openly in their truth, it gives courage to others who may still be finding their voice. Sometimes visibility simply allows someone else to say, “If she can stand there, maybe I can also be who I am.”

But visibility is not always easy. In many parts of the world, including many African contexts, visibility can come with real risks. It can bring threats, rejection, and sometimes even violence. For many transgender people especially, being visible is not simply a personal choice it can be a matter of safety. That is why this day also calls us to reflect more deeply on what visibility means. Visibility is not only about those who stand on stages or speak loudly. Visibility takes many forms.

Some people are visible by speaking publicly, advocating, and taking leadership roles. Others are visible in quieter ways in their homes, in their communities, in small circles of trust, or simply in the quiet courage of living authentically in spaces where it is not always safe to do so.

All forms of visibility deserve to be honored.

On this Day of Visibility, we are reminded not only to celebrate those who stand in the light, but also to recognize and respect the many ways people live their truth. As people of faith, we believe that every person reflects the sacred image of God. Our calling is to create communities where people do not have to hide who they are in order to belong. So today we celebrate visibility in all its forms. We honor those who speak out, those who lead, those who quietly persist, and those who are still finding the courage to live more openly.

And we must also say this clearly, a world that demands that people hide who they are in order to be safe is a world that still needs healing. Our communities especially our faith communities must become places where people are not forced into silence, but are welcomed in truth and dignity.

In many African traditions we speak about Ubuntu, the understanding that “a person is a person through other people.” Our humanity is deeply interconnected. When we refuse to see someone fully, we diminish our shared humanity. But when we choose to recognize the dignity of another person, we restore something sacred within our communities 

Because when people are free to show up fully as themselves, our communities become more honest, more compassionate, and more human.

May we continue the work of building spaces where no one has to shrink themselves in order to belong. And may our courage to see one another fully become the beginning of a more just and compassionate world. Because visibility is not only about being seen it is about affirming that every life is worthy of dignity, safety, and love.

Rev. Elder Aaron Miller, United States 

It seems like only yesterday that we (trans people) in the United States were celebrating who we are --- out, proud, and able to gender transition and to be visible without fear. This year feels very different for much has changed. Or has it? Yes, each day the national news carries stories of legislators bringing forth anti-trans bills to criminalize health care, bathrooms, driving, sports, international travel (and more) with the intent to render us invisible and remove us from community life; state by state. 

And yet, in scripture we meet Lazarus who chose to walked out of the tomb where he had been placed, leaving behind his grave clothes, and never going back. New life waited beyond that tomb and Lazarus chose to live. We, in the trans community, will not return or retreat either—back to different ‘tombs’ many of us know well – a place where others seal us off from community and even from worship---a place without air, light, and life. 

It has always been the case that we (and everyone for that matter) must exercise caution regarding personal safety; something we have been taught from an early age. Yet, as people of faith, we know with certainty that love is much greater and more powerful than fear. Love always prevails. Jesus deeply loved Lazarus and raised him from the dead. God deeply loves us all and delights in our becoming; each of us uniquely a gift to us all. Beyond the cacophony of voices media, religious, familial, social, and more --- there is truth. The Good News that MCCs share freely around the world is that God’s unconditional love is for us, too and that our sanctuaries welcome all and offer a respite from what we see and hear.

Friends, like Lazarous, we have been set free!  So, on this Transgender Day of Visibility---wherever you are on your spiritual and gender journeys, know that you are deeply loved as who (not what) you are…and becoming. We are been given the spiritual gift of courage to live authentically and freely as well as the spiritual gift of wisdom to discern when visibility may not be safe.

So, let us live -- and love (including ourselves). There are no tombs that can hold us. So, let us leave behind the death wraps and walk into the air, light, and life that waits for us each moment and day we ‘rise up’ like Lazarus. Praise God!