March 31, 2025
Artists

Sasha Colby, Dua Saleh & More Stars Open Up


For International Transgender Day of Visibility, Billboard asked trans and nonbinary stars about how they’re moving two steps forward while political progress takes one step back.

At the outset of his second presidential administration in January 2025, Donald Trump made his intentions surrounding transgender and nonbinary rights abundantly clear. In a flurry of executive orders — some of which have since been shut down or paused by federal judges for their lack of constitutional merit — the president openly attacked trans and nonbinary people’s access to healthcare, anti-discrimination protections, public facilities, sporting activities, military service and more.

RuPaul’s Drag Race star and outspoken LGBTQ+ advocate Peppermint puts it very simply to Billboard: “It is getting real.”

Every year for the last 16 years, March 31 has been commemorated as the International Transgender Day of Visibility. Intended to celebrate the vibrancy of the trans community while highlighting and challenging the active discrimination that every member of the community faces on a daily basis, the annual holiday comes at a critical time for the community.

With transgender and nonbinary communities in need of more support than ever, Billboard asked eight trans and nonbinary musicians to share their own experiences this year. Those artists — Dreamer Isioma, Dua Saleh, Jasmine.4.t, Moore Kismet, Olive Faber, Peppermint, Sasha Colby and Zora — offered their thoughts on the current administration’s active campaign against trans people, what the music industry at large can do to provide more support for their communities, and what fans can do to help the trans people in their lives. See them in their own words below.

And if you’re looking for a way to contribute to the fight for trans rights on this Transgender Day of Visibility, please consider donating to one or more of the organizations listed below. Find more information about local charities you can donate to in your state here.

  • Trans Lifeline: A national hotline and non-profit organization giving “direct emotional and financial support to trans people in crisis.”
  • Transgender Law Center: The “largest national, trans-led organization” providing legal information and assistance to trans and nonbinary people, while also advocating for and helping shape pro-LGBTQ+ policies nationwide.
  • For the Gworls: A Black, trans-led mutual aid fund hosting regular events to “fundraise money to help Black transgender people pay for their rent, gender-affirming surgeries, smaller co-pays for medicines/doctor’s visits, and travel assistance.”
  • The Sylvia Rivera Law Project: A trans-led legal aid organization providing legal services and trainings to the transgender, nonbinary and intersex communities in order to ensure all are “free to self-determine their gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence.”
  • The Trevor Project: A leading nonprofit organization providing 24-hour crisis hotlines to LGBTQ+ youth, conduct vital research on the lived realities of queer and trans youth and publicly advocate for policies supporting the LGBTQ+ community, with the stated goal to “end suicide among LGBTQ+ young people.”
  • Lambda Legal: A civil rights organization focused on pursuing litigation on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community and policymaking at “every level of government” to help advocate for the community.



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