Around the world, people are celebrating International Trans Day of Visibility. Among those commemorating today is actress and LGBTQ+ advocate Laverne Cox.
Laverne released a powerful video on her Instagram, spreading hope and motivation to individuals in honor of the annual awareness day.
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"Happy International Day of Trans Visibility," she began. "I think visibility is so important, and people need to know that we exist, and we've always existed, but we see that with increased visibility of trans folks, we're also targeted more."
Laverne's message comes after the state of Arkansas recently passed a bill that would ban access to gender-affirming care for transgender minors (which would include reversible puberty blockers and hormones). Unless Gov. Asa Hutchinson vetoes the bill, Arkansas will become the first state to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth.
"It's really interesting that, in 2021, we still have to fight to be visible, and we have to fight being erased," Laverne continued. "If trans folks don't have access to gender-affirming care, we're still gonna be trans, but it's gonna make our lives harder and more difficult, and that shouldn't be what the government is in the business of doing...Fighting to be who we are is just the reality of the world that we live in right now. We can find joy in that fight; hopefully, we don't have to fight alone...It's something that has to be done in the community, and we can laugh, and we can be happy warriors. And we have to just love each other and love ourselves...Just spread love...Spread love every day."
She also encouraged viewers to call Gov. Asa Hutchinson and ask him to veto the bill along with another that prevents doctors from referring or treating children with any form of gender-affirming care.
The actress also joins Selena Gomez, Janelle Monáe, and over 460 other signatories in an open letter from GLAAD that responds to recent anti-trans legislation and violence. It was also issued in observance of Trans Visibility Day and Women's History Month.
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