Transgender Day of Visibility, 2024

Proclamation 10724 of March 29, 2024

Transgender Day of Visibility, 2024

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the
extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender
Americans and reaffirm our Nation's commitment to
forming a more perfect Union--where all people are
created equal and treated equally throughout their
lives.

I am proud that my Administration has stood for justice
from the start, working to ensure that the LGBTQI+
community can live openly, in safety, with dignity and
respect. I am proud to have appointed transgender
leaders to my Administration and to have ended the ban
on transgender Americans serving openly in our
military. I am proud to have signed historic Executive
Orders that strengthen civil rights protections in
housing, employment, health care, education, the
justice system, and more. I am proud to have signed the
Respect for Marriage Act into law, ensuring that every
American can marry the person they love.

Transgender Americans are part of the fabric of our
Nation. Whether serving their communities or in the
military, raising families or running businesses, they
help America thrive. They deserve, and are entitled to,
the same rights and freedoms as every other American,
including the most fundamental freedom to be their true
selves. But extremists are proposing hundreds of
hateful laws that target and terrify transgender kids
and their families--silencing teachers; banning books;
and even threatening parents, doctors, and nurses with
prison for helping parents get care for their children.
These bills attack our most basic American values: the
freedom to be yourself, the freedom to make your own
health care decisions, and even the right to raise your
own child. It is no surprise that the bullying and
discrimination that transgender Americans face is
worsening our Nation's mental health crisis, leading
half of transgender youth to consider suicide in the
past year. At the same time, an epidemic of violence
against transgender women and girls, especially women
and girls of color, continues to take too many lives.
Let me be clear: All of these attacks are un-American
and must end. No one should have to be brave just to be
themselves.

At the same time, my Administration is working to stop
the bullying and harassment of transgender children and
their families. The Department of Justice has taken
action to push back against extreme and un-American
State laws targeting transgender youth and their
families and the Department of Justice is partnering
with law enforcement and community groups to combat
hate and violence. My Administration is also providing
dedicated emergency mental health support through our
nationwide suicide and crisis lifeline--any LGBTQI+
young person in need can call ``988'' and press ``3''
to speak with a counselor trained to support them. We
are making public services more accessible for
transgender Americans, including with more inclusive
passports and easier access to Social Security
benefits. There is much more to do. I continue to call
on the Congress to pass the Equality Act, to codify
civil rights protections for all LGBTQI+ Americans.

Today, we send a message to all transgender Americans:
You are loved. You are heard. You are understood. You
belong. You are America, and my entire Administration
and I have your back.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31,
2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility. I call upon all
Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices
of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work
toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on
gender identity.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
eighth.