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.
Jasmine.4.t, Moore Kismet and Sasha Colby
Alice Lagarde (@alicelagarde_bis)
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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Dreamer Isioma
Image Credit: Daniel Degado So, I’m not surprised at what Trump and his administration are pulling. I’m honestly more annoyed than anything, because I’m still gonna do me. I’m still gonna have fun. I’m still gonna be gay as f–k. I’m still gonna do what I want. Yeah, honestly, Trump is sus for even caring this much about what queer people are on. Like, bro, we don’t care about you at all. We don’t bother you, we don’t bother anyone, so everyone just needs to leave us alone.
“To queer artists; do not stop. In fact, go even harder, especially if you are a person of color, especially if you are Black, because people literally want to kill us. So don’t let them. To executives; honestly, give us fair deals, give us more money, give us guidance with those funds and in this business, because at the end of the day, that’s what all of this is about. Try to give a f–k. Care. Be present with artists, especially queer artists.
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Dua Saleh
Image Credit: Rhianna Hajduch As a trans entertainer, I have to be hyper-cognizant of sociopolitical violence and micolevel shifts within the culture. Legislatively, there has been an active witch hunt launched against trans and queer individuals, virtually affecting every aspect of modern life for these people within our communities. Watching loved ones have to change gender markers on travel documents, and to have to struggle to be able to find gender-affirming, life-altering surgeries has truly haunted me.
“I urge you to call your representatives, and to participate in organized protests against these disgusting policies. And, if you can’t do that, you can also contact organizations and donate to organizations like The Trevor Project, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and Trans Lifeline. I hope you have a wonderful day, and stay safe out there. I love you so much.
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Jasmine.4.t
Image Credit: Matt Grubb I’m here in Austin, Texas for SXSW right now, and the scariest thing that I’ve experienced so far was coming through immigration into Texas with my band of four trans women. We’ve heard so many horror stories of things like immigration officers using strip searches as a humiliation tactic for trans women. We’ve heard about so many horrible things happening to trans women in men’s prisons here in Texas, and we were terrified. We were so afraid of using public bathrooms here that we took a self-defense class before coming out. We aren’t allowed to use the bathrooms in North Carolina, where we’re changing planes on our way home.
This is something that no other musicians really have to think about, and that we have to think about every day while having to deal with the constant threat of violence around us — and thinking about all of the horrible things that are being done to our trans siblings every day in prisons, on the streets. So, yeah, protect trans kids.
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Moore Kismet
Image Credit: Ronnie Loyd I’ve been out as nonbinary since I was about 15 years old — for context, I’m 20 years old now — and it has been one of the greatest joys of a lifetime getting to live as my most authentic self, openly, as a non-binary person. However, it does come with its own unique set of challenges, as over the span of those five years, I, along with many of my other trans siblings in the music industry, have received a litany of death threats and otherwise invalidating and dehumanizing comments in regards to the validity of our identities.
To any of my trans siblings and any of my trans and queer family who are struggling right now; you are not alone. The negligence of not only the music industry but also our government is not going to go unnoticed. People are finally starting to pay attention and realizing that the mistreatment of our community and many other people around the world are not fixing the issues that we need to be addressing. So please, stay strong and stay happy. I know, it’s much easier said than done, but trust me, we need to do it.
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Olive Faber (of Sunflower Bean)
Image Credit: Lulu Syracuse I am a transgender woman who has been transitioning for almost four years now. On this day of trans visibility, I would just like to speak to all of my trans sisters here in the U.S. and beyond and say, despite our rights being taken away from us on a near daily basis and being talked about negatively in the mass media on a daily basis, and the anxiety that comes along with all of that, we need to stay focused on building our local communities and creating the channels that will allow us to continue to get the care that we need. And I love you.
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Peppermint
Image Credit: David Laffe I guess my message to the music industry, those who are in the music industry, artists, creatives, executives is, ‘Joy.’ I am so grateful that, as a Black trans woman, I have a platform that I can use to tell the stories that I want, to spread love, to do what I love the most, and what I’m the most passionate about. I know that marginalized communities have it really tough right now. And I do think that, eventually, many of us are going to have difficulty getting and doing the things that we usually would get and do the way that we would usually get and do them. And, when times are tough like that, the human spirit needs fuel to prevail. I think the fuel that the human spirit needs, that will help it prevail in the darkest of times, is joy. Artists and creatives, we help bring that. That’s a gift that we can bring.
If you’re not a creative, if you can’t sing, if you don’t play the guitar, but you’re an executive, consider mentoring, paying, hiring an artist, making way for an artist to do those types of things. Maybe a different type of artist that you wouldn’t normally help, sign, mentor, facilitate. It is getting real. It is. The gift that we have is to uplift people when they can’t do it for themselves. So let’s get out there, let’s work on our communities, and let’s help lift people up. I’ll see you out there.
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Sasha Colby
Image Credit: Preston Meneses Under the current administration, we’ve witnessed an alarming number of attacks on the trans community. These attacks go beyond policy and are literally actively affecting the lives and the lived experiences of trans people in America. At this time, it is important to remember that we are advocating for equality, for acceptance, and to make America a safe space not just for trans and non-binary people, but for people in general.
The fight for change transcends policy within our own government, so it is crucial that we push for change in our communities, in our workplaces and in the industries that shape our lives. So it is imperative to use our voices and stand united in advocating towards a better world for trans and non-binary people, and a better world for humanity.
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Zora
Image Credit: William Hawk I’m a 25-year-old artist and pop star based in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, and I am a transgender woman. The transsexual artist experience … I think it’s beautiful. I think it’s passion, and I think it’s resilience. Being a trans artist, and to make music, to make art, to produce things is inherently an act of resistance. With the beautiful parts of being an artist, there also comes a downside. There have been many times at gigs where I have been talked down to, misgendered and degraded because of my transness and my Blackness. And it sucks.
So how can the industry help? Acknowledge us. Acknowledge trans women and trans people when they are up, and not just when we are passed away. Uplift our trans artists and our trans entertainers while they are still here with us. Don’t just engage in trauma porn to talk about us. Book the dolls! Hire the dolls! Work with the dolls!
Zora Nation, what can y’all do? Be active in the streets, be active in your community, using your voice to be heard and to stand up for what’s right. Use your voice to stand up for trans people. Anybody who is Zora Nation truly knows that we get active in these streets.