The 2026 National Trans Visibility March Is Bringing Four Days of Trans Power to Puerto Rico

The 8th Annual National Trans Visibility March will bring transgender, gender-diverse people and allies from Puerto Rico, the mainland U.S., the Caribbean and beyond to San Juan from Oct. 14-17 for four days centered on trans community and public visibility.

The week starts at The Fruit Punch House with an opening celebration hosted by Miau and co-hosted by Twan Shakur. Scorpio Von’Cartier Foxx, Chris Griandher, Yani “The Vixxxen,” Alexandra Duvont, Cuerpes Celestes and Delirioare also on the bill. Registration for the gathering is free.

The days that follow move into policy, wellness, organizing and the streets of San Juan. NTVM wants the week to connect people doing trans work in Puerto Rico and around the world with one another and with resources that can help move that work forward.

It Started with a March on Washington

The first National Trans Visibility March took place Sept. 28, 2019, in Washington, D.C.

Organizers called it the first national march of its kind for transgender and gender-nonconforming people. Participants gathered at Freedom Plaza to put trans people, their safety and their rights in public view. Actress and activist Angelica Ross, then-Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David and other trans leaders were among the announced speakers.

Marissa Miller, a nationally recognized trans advocate and health equity strategist, founded the National Trans Visibility March after years of work in LGBTQ equality, transgender health and HIV care. Her advocacy has included work to expand treatment and care for transgender people and people living with HIV, along with policy, education and anti-stigma work at the local and national levels.

Miller told the Human Rights Campaign that conversations about a trans march began during a Positive Women’s Network retreat in South Carolina. The death of a Black trans woman close to her in 2018 advanced the idea, and Miller became one of four original organizers of the 2019 march.

NTVM kept moving after Washington. The pandemic pushed much of the 2020 gathering online. The march went to Orlando in 2021, West Hollywood in 2022 and New York in 2023 before returning to Washington. In 2025, its programming became part of WorldPride Washington, D.C.

A decade before NTVM’s first march, activist and psychotherapist Rachel Crandall-Crocker created International Transgender Day of Visibility in 2009 because so much public recognition of transgender people centered on death. She wanted a day that recognized trans people living their lives. Crandall-Crocker has since spoken about the complications that can come with greater visibility, including exposure to hostility and violence.

NTVM carries safety directly into that public-facing work. This year’s program includes a Policy, Safety & Wellness Summit, and the organization has named groups including the Human Rights Campaign, Global Action for Trans Equality, My Sistah’s House and Game Changing Men as safety partners for the Puerto Rico gathering.

Why Puerto Rico?

NTVM founder Marissa Miller said organizers chose Puerto Rico because of the conditions transgender people are facing on the island, including violence and recent restrictions on gender-affirming health care.

Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer González-Colón signed a law in 2025 banning hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery for people younger than 21. The law also created penalties for health professionals who provide that care. Supporters argued that younger people should be protected from medical decisions they consider irreversible. LGBTQ advocates and several professional organizations opposed the law, arguing that it restricts access to necessary health care.

Miller also points to Puerto Rico’s political status and limited federal representation as part of why national attention matters.

“We need to hear from our peers that are experiencing these issues,” Miller told Windy City Times, “so we can take that back to policymakers and push for change.”

The organization says local leadership and the work already happening in Puerto Rico will help shape the gathering. Waves Ahead, the TransLatin@ Coalition, Human Rights Campaign, Transgender Law Center, Lambda Legal, Advocates for Transgender Equality, Global Action for Trans Equality, Puerto Rican Cultural Center, True Self Foundation, Trans Women of Color Healing Project and other groups are among the organizations represented.

“Global solidarity starts with listening,” NTVM Global Director Toi Washington-Reynolds said in a press release provided to Gaye Magazine. “Transgender communities around the world have their own leadership, cultures, challenges and solutions.”

What Happens Once Everyone Arrives

NTVM’s current public schedule fills the four days from morning sessions to a Saturday night after-party:

• Wednesday, Oct. 14: Opening celebration at The Fruit Punch House from 7:30 to 10 p.m., hosted by Miau and co-hosted by Twan Shakur.
• Thursday, Oct. 15: Policy, Safety & Wellness Summit from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., followed by a Fun Day in San Juan beginning at 3:30 p.m. and continuing into the evening.
• Friday, Oct. 16: Strategic Empowerment & Wellness Day sessions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Labor of Love Red Carpet & Reception runs from 5 to 7 p.m., followed by the Labor of Love Awards Ceremony from 7:30 to 10 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 17: National Trans Visibility March & Rally from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by the NTVM After Party beginning at 5 p.m.

The Policy, Safety & Wellness Summit will bring policy conversations together with health, wellness and safety concerns affecting trans communities. Windy City Times reports that organizers also plan to develop a white paper outlining next steps for trans advocates after the gathering.

The NTVM press release provided to Gaye also describes a stakeholders meeting that will bring community leaders together with people working in philanthropy, research and advocacy to talk about funding, coalition building and future collaboration. The organization’s current public registration schedule does not list a separate time for that meeting.

NTVM has organized its strategy team across policy, mental health, communications, culture, safety and other areas so people with different expertise and community relationships share responsibility for the work.

There Should be Some Joy in This, Too

The week deals with serious issues, but organizers have also made space for people to enjoy being together.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation says it has tracked at least 399 transgender and gender-nonconforming people killed by fatal violence since 2013. HRC cautions that the actual number is likely higher because deaths can go unreported, victims can be misgendered and cases can be missed. Black transgender people, particularly Black trans women, make up a disproportionate share of those deaths.

Those numbers make the safety work immediate. NTVM’s opening night also gives people a place to perform, dance, laugh, meet each other and enjoy being together. Safety work protects lives that deserve to be lived fully, publicly and with joy.

Miller says she will measure the week by the relationships and work that continue after the march.

“The question cannot only be how many people marched with us,” she said in the NTVM press release provided to Gaye Magazine. “We also have to ask: What relationships did we build? What organizations did we connect? What conversations are continuing? What doors were opened?”

If organizers get what they want, people will leave San Juan having spent four days meeting people they can call again, learning who is already doing the work, building relationships they can use when the next fight, project or opportunity comes, and have had an amazing and safe time doing it.

Registration for the 2026 National Trans Visibility March is free through the National Trans Visibility March website here.