Today is Transgender Day of Visibility (“TDoV”), an internationally recognised day to celebrate the diversity, achievements, and joy of the trans community. But it is also a day to highlight the challenges we face structurally and in our daily lives, and plan how we can move forward together.

As many trans people have been saying for the past few years, it’s often hard not to feel visible. In the current climate of intense media attention and, in many places, regressive anti-trans legislation, it is easy to feel like we are losing a battle, and that more recent “visibility” has come at a great price. From transphobic online abuse, to thinkpieces that oppose our right to live happy healthy lives, to legislation in Texas that criminalises supporting young trans people’s access to healthcare – it can feel like things are going in the wrong direction.

However, on TDoV it is important to remember that it does not have to be this way. Trans people and our allies can come together to make the world a better place, not just for people like us, but for all marginalised groups.

Trans people have always been here, and we are not going to go away any time soon. As we have always done, we will work as hard as we can so that every trans person has the ability to live their lives as who they know they are, and not just survive, but flourish.

So today, we want to focus on the things we can all do, and the small actions we can take that add up to make a big difference. While things are far from perfect in Scotland, we are also on the cusp of some real changes for the better which need your support.

At Scottish Trans, we are working hard on making sure that the Gender Recognition Reform Bill gets passed, and that legal recognition for trans men and women becomes a fair and simple process, rather than a difficult and degrading one. If you would like to know more about the Bill and what it aims to do, you can check out these pages on our website, and if you want to help us to reform this outdated process, there are two simple things we would ask you to do: email your MSPs, and respond to the call for views.

We take today to recognise the beauty and strength of our community, our creativity and bravery in the face of adversity. But we know that transphobia will not go away overnight, and that we as trans people and allies have to support each other and work together to get to the better world we know is coming.