Transgender Day of Visibility has been celebrated every March 31 since 2009, to recognize the lives, history, and accomplishments of those living the trans experience.
Dominique Morgan is a proud Black trans woman, something she’s known since childhood but didn’t quite have the right words for.
"The terms, the explanations, may feel new," Morgan said. "But the people, the identities that the people are carrying, have been around in our history forever.”
She says through the love and support of her community, she is now able to express her identity freely. She wants to give back by being visible, something that may seem simple to some.
“There’s something powerful about being the thing that you needed," Morgan said. "And I can’t imagine growing up. I’m born and raised in Omaha, in North Omaha. Seeing a Black trans woman when I was 10 or when I was 12 years old, and what that could have done for my lived experience.”
Because the community has played such a role in her life, Morgan wants to expand that support through Black and Pink, an organization that works to lift up LGBTQIA+ people of color and those living with HIV/ AIDS. Morgan's next step is to create the Opportunity Campus for young adults in need of housing.
For Rustina Phoenix-Nuttz, being a visible trans nonbinary person is the act of reaffirming their humanity when it can feel like people are trying to deny that through policies, laws and stereotypes.
“I want to be viewed as a human, and respected just as equally as a regular human," Phoenix-Nuttz said. "Not less than you, you don’t have to put me higher than someone. I want to be seen as a human.”
Morgan and Phoenix-Nuttz both say that those questioning their gender, or who are not ready to be visibly trans, have a community in Omaha that is ready to accept them fully.
“It might take a while, it might hurt, it might be hard," Phoenix-Nuttz said. "But your family is going to be there, your chosen family is just around the corner.”
Transgender rights are human rights — and I’m calling on every American to join me in uplifting the worth and dignity of transgender Americans. Together, we can stamp out discrimination and deliver on our nation’s promise of freedom and equality for all. #TransDayofVisibility
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 31, 2021
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