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By Mayor Katjana Ballantyne

As we approach this year’s Transgender Day of Visibility, we must reckon with the fact that our transgender and nonbinary community members have never been more visible – but instead of being supported and celebrated in their identities, our trans friends, family, and neighbors have had a target painted on their backs.

The trans community is seen, but increasingly not respected and appreciated. Sometimes we fear people who show us something about the way the world is, especially ways the world is that we hadn’t or didn’t want to see. And instead of opening our hearts and minds to get to know these people who are very similar and different to us, we might do something called Othering to members of our community instead of greeting them and learning more about ways we can work together. (Othering means to treat individuals or a group as different and inferior, often driven by fear and hatred and leading to exclusion, marginalization, denigration, and aggression.) 

For this year’s Transgender Day of Visibility, I feel it is imperative to reaffirm Somerville’s unwavering support for our transgender and non-binary community members. We see you. You are a cherished part of this community. You belong here.

Across the nation, a storm of hostility is being unleashed against transgender people; turning lives into political battlegrounds and sowing fear where there should be safety. In 2024 alone, 617 anti-trans bills were introduced, making it the fifth consecutive record-breaking year for bills targeting trans rights. This year, 796 bills have been introduced. This year, 5 bills have been introduced at the Massachusetts state level. This is an abhorrent record for our country.

Much of this legislation directly targets children, from restricting access to gender-affirming care to banning books that reflect their identities. This legislation has a tangible harmful effect on people’s lives, from their abilities to play sports, use the restroom, go to work, and serve our country, among many other impacts. These efforts are attacks on people’s dignity, safety, and right to exist.

They also open the door to attacks on the rights of all and the fabric of society as a whole. It is a well-worn pattern for some power seekers to stoke hatred and fear of others – any convenient others available. History shows they do this to distract us from or to get people to accept despicable actions and harmful policies. It’s easier to, say, shut down the Department of Education that serves more than 70 million school children and college students and others if enough of the public is instead focused on fearing the .06% of the U.S. population (1.6 million aged 13+) who identify as transgender and are simply seeking to live their lives with dignity and respect. Ultimately, harming others harms ourselves.

But while others work to erase rights and sow division, Somerville remains a counterweight; a place where dignity, respect, and safety are not up for debate. I back that commitment with action, and am proud to have created a full-time LGBTQ+ Services Coordinator who connects residents to essential services and supports. We are launching mandatory staff training, led by the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, to ensure that City Hall is a place of true inclusion.

The stakes are high. Our own Youth Risk Behavior Survey data shows that gender non-conforming students in Somerville are three times more likely to have considered suicide than their peers and five times more likely to have attempted it. The research consistently shows that when we use trans youths’ chosen names and pronouns, they have better mental health outcomes. This crisis is real, and it demands our action.

Visibility is about more than being seen, it is about being safe, supported, and free to live as you are. In Somerville, that will never be up for debate.