'We won't go back': Trans Day of Visibility event in Brevard offers support, hope to crowd
Those were just a few of the messages — spoken, on signs or on T-shirts — shared Sunday by a crowd of around 250 gathered at Eau Gallie Square Park for a Transgender Day of Visibility event organized by Space Coast Pride.
The rally, with music, speakers, resources and a march across Eau Gallie Causeway, is one of many being held nationwide to mark International Transgender Day of Visibility, marked on March 31 since 2010.
For many in attendance, there was a shared sense of urgency. The 2025 TDOV follows President Donald Trump's recent executive orders restricting the rights of transgender Americans — impacting, for example, their ability to serve in the military, participate in school sports and obtain government documentation, including passports that reflect their gender identity.
"Visibility," said Shelley Rodden, Pride youth director, who co-hosted with Vance Ahrens. "Visibility is life, now more than ever. It's standing up for our community, even when it's uncomfortable."
For those who took the stage to share personal stories, the importance of visibility truly hits home.
For speaker Finn Hobert, it was a chance to talk of generational channels of understanding, as shared with their 75-year-old grandfather.
The older man, who grew up on a farm in the Midwest, could have easily hated what he did not understand, they said. Instead, he has come to embrace his grandchild. This past Christmas, he sent them a gender-neutral card stating that "people like you are what the holidays are all about."
"Now his favorite pastime is trolling his close-minded family members on Facebook whenever they spout hateful rhetoric about LGBTQ+ individuals," they said.
"Many people hate trans individuals because they do not understand us; they have not met us ... the problem is they are unwilling to learn, unlike my grandpa. ... This is how we fight; this is how we reject their hate. We keep living and show them the beauty that is our lives. Because trans rights are human rights."
Speaker Michelle Salyer spoke lovingly of her transgender son, who came to her at 14 and said he wanted to buy a binder. She thought he meant a three-ring notebook. And as he shared more about who he was, she "tried desperately to convince him otherwise," she said.
She gets a lot of credit now for being a good mom and a supportive parent, Salyer said, "but that wasn't always the case."
"It wasn't until two different counselors confirmed that my daughter was in fact my son, and I realized the agonizing depth of his depression, that I started to accept the truth," she said. "I learned two things that summer: No. 1, this wasn't about me or what I envisioned for his life. And No. 2, I realized I could have a dead child or a live child. With that realization, I did a complete 180."
Salyer imagined "a lot of setbacks and difficulties and prejudices," she said, but never what she's seeing today, what she describes as "maddening, heartbreaking misinformation and lies."
Despite all that, "despite a daily dose of demoralizing legislation," her son is a senior in college, majoring in conservation biology — and has zero regrets about his transition, Salyer said.
"He is smart, funny, thoughtful and affectionate. and as the result of having been raised as a female for 15 years, he brings a unique perspective to life that encapsulates both genders," she said.
"He is 21 now, but he's still my baby, and this mama bear loves him ferociously. And make no mistake, I will do anything to protect him. When people tell him he's lucky to have such supportive parents, I disagree. It is we who are the lucky ones."
Britt Kennerly is education/breaking news editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Kennerly at 321-917-4744 or bkennerly@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @bybrittkennerly Facebook: /bybrittkennerly.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Trans Day of Visbility: Crowd at Brevard event stresses awareness, hope
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