Aydian gained visibility and a following in 2015 when he became a fan favorite to win Men’s Health Magazine’s “Ultimate Health Guy” contest. Even though Aydian didn’t win the contest, he won a spot on the cover, becoming one of the first transgender men to do so. Dubbed “The Pioneer,” Aydian’s popularity thrust him into the spotlight and granted him the opportunity to promote visibility for the trans-community and converse with other activists through mediums like YouTube. He attended VidCon this year and met other content creators like Tyler Oakley and was part of a panel about Gender Identity.
Significance: “Aydian got us thinking about what it means to be a man in 2015,” Men’s Health Editor-in-Chief Bill Phillips says. “He’s become a leading voice of the transgender community and we feel privileged to share his story and to count him as a member of the Men’s Health family” (Out.com)
Sharing his story is just what Aydian has done. From every part of his social media platform, Aydian has chosen to be vulnerable and honest about a deeply personal journey – transitioning. He has talked openly about being on testosterone and his surgeries, his health and fitness plans, his long-term relationship with his now wife, and so much more.
Often times the barriers between hetero-normative society and LGBTQ persons or anyone deemed as “the other” is simply the fact that humans shun or shy away from what they do not understand. What is crucial about Aydian’s “brand” of activism and advocacy is that he has created a place where people can learn and feel safe. All the while, he continues to use this platform to raise money for causes that benefit the community.
Who: Laverne Cox
(Tweet: @LaverneCox / IG: @LaverneCox)
Buzzfeed called her the “Woman we’ve been waiting for” and Glamour, Time, Out, and HuffingtonPost have all honored her as an influential and intersectional voice for the trans community. Best known for her role on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, Laverne Cox has become a powerful icon for LGBTQ+ visibility with her confidence, talent, and unwavering advocacy.
Significance: I wanted to start with a quote from Laverne herself, because it is so much more eloquent than I could ever write on her behalf. Her mark on the activism of the millennial generation is smart and direct: we need diversity of representation. On TransVisibility Day (3/31) this year, Laverne posted this to her Instagram:
“As an out, visible, black, transgender woman everyday is #TransDayOfVisibility for me. My blackness, transness and womanhood are political, social and historic realities. But my spirit, my soul, my humanity transcend these identity categories. As an artist I have always yearned for transcendence. Today I continue to do the spiritual work towards that transcendence. But the political, social and historic realities of the multiple identities I inhabit, continue to affect how I and people like me move through the world and access space and resources. In this context it becomes necessary, vital to celebrate ourselves and these socially constructed yet personally, politically and historically relevant identities we inhabit. Trans people are under attack perhaps now more than ever as we enjoy more visibility than we have ever known. So on this #transdayofvisibility#tdov2017 we celebrate trans folks, those who are visible, by circumstance and by choice. We celebrate and are visible for those who can not be. As we celebrate visibility we also acknowledge the limits of visibility. We acknowledge that trans folks experience violence disproportionately, that the past 3 years there have been more murders of trans folks than since we have been tracking trans homicides. We acknowledge that trans students are under attack in the United States. We #StandwithGavin Grimm and trans students like him across this nation fighting for dignity and equal access. We acknowledge that bills like HB2 and the bill masquerading as a repeal of that bill but is only more discrimination, are about erasing trans people from public life. We acknowledge that when we are excluded from being counted in census data this is another attempt to erase us. We acknowledge that when trans folks are misgendered and disavowed this is yet another attempt to stigmatize and erase us. We acknowledge that folks at the intersections of multiple identities being targeted must be lifted up. On this Trans Day of Visibility we reassert that we will not and cannot be erased.”
“My blackness, transness and womanhood are political, social and historic realities.”
For Pride last month, Laverne took part in LogoTV’s LGBTQ History Project. See a clip below.
One of the most compelling parts of Laverne, is her unwavering commitment to embracing and remembering the different aspects of her identity. I love that she highlights the importance of intersectionality when talking about her feminism and her activism.
When researching the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the queer women at its inception, I found a similar sentiment at its core, “Perhaps if we were the charismatic Black men many are rallying around these days, it would have been a different story, but being Black queer women in this society (and apparently within these movements) tends to equal invisibility and non-relevancy” (BLM, Herstory.) Interestingly, Laverne Cox frequently speaks about invisibility in her community.
What: I’m starting off this next series of posts about our transgender friends with an article featured in the Human Rights Campaign’s publication, Equality Magazine. In the Spring of 2017, HRC featured on the cover the “Next Wave of Transgender Advocates.” The article highlights Gavin Grimm and his challenge to Virginia school board’s bathroom policies, Avery Jackson as the first transgender girl to appear on the cover of National Geographic, Jazz Jennings, Brendan Jordan and more!
HRC, Equality Magazine, Spring 2017 (Cover)HRC Equality Magazine, Spring 2017 (p 1 and 2 of article)
HRC, Equality Magazine, Spring 2017 (pg. 3 of article)
Significance: In the LGBTQ+ community, the “T” identifying have had a particularly rough time. This year already, 14 transgender women of color have been killed in the US. In the first month of his presidency, Mr. Trump rolled back protections for transgender students. And just this week, the Pentagon pushed back the directive to accept transgender troops into the ranks of the US Armed Forces. The importance of young voices in the world is never more important. When Gavin Grimm wanted to go the restroom that matched the gender he identified with, it went to the courts and captured national attention. When Nat Geo put Avery Jackson on their cover, she became the face of a movement, at 9 years old.
Visibility and representation are everything.
One of my favorite transgender activists is the lovable, adorable, and outgoing, Jazz Jennings. Through her YouTube channel, and television show, she and her family have used her journey to show the world that transgender people are WONDERFUL!
Jazz Jennings – Tweet @JazzJennings_ / IG: @JazzJennings_
