Trans visibility is not a privilege: it is a matter of human rights

Every March 31, International Transgender Day of Visibility is observed. But for many trans people, this visibility is not only a form of recognition: it also means constant exposure to discrimination, hate speech and disinformation.

For decades, trans people have been made invisible, persecuted or forced to live on the margins of society. In Spain, many generations endured police repression, exclusion from employment and social violence simply for existing. That history still weighs heavily on many lives.

The legal advances of recent years have been significant. The legal recognition of gender identity, or the existence of support services such as Catalonia’s trans healthcare model, have marked steps forward that only a few decades ago seemed impossible. But these rights were not granted out of institutional generosity. They were the result of sustained pressure from the trans movement and from many people who resisted when there was no protection at all.

Today, paradoxically, while some rights have been secured, we are also witnessing a worrying rise in narratives that seek to undermine them.

In different countries, laws are being passed that restrict the lives of trans people: healthcare bans, legal persecution or the criminalisation of gender identity. This backlash is part of a global political offensive by ultraconservative sectors that have turned the trans community into an ideological target.

This phenomenon is also resonating in Europe and in Spain. Discourses that once remained at the margins now appear in political debates, media talk shows and social media campaigns. The existence of trans people is being questioned, false information is being spread, and discrimination is being presented as just another opinion within public debate.

But human dignity is not up for debate.

Trans visibility does not only mean seeing trans people in the media or on social media. It means ensuring that a trans person can live a normal life: study, work, access healthcare, grow old with dignity and walk down the street without fear.

There are still many areas in which this equality is far from real. Workplace discrimination remains one of the main barriers for many trans people. Trans children and teenagers still face bullying. And many older trans people carry the burden of decades of social exclusion.

Catalonia also has pending challenges. The need for a Catalan Trans Law that strengthens existing rights and guarantees specific public policies remains a legitimate demand of the trans movement.

Visibility, therefore, is not only a celebration. It is a political and social tool to remind us that rights are not guaranteed forever and that any setback directly affects people’s lives.

March 31 is not only a symbolic day. It is a reminder that real equality still has to be defended every single day.