First Annual Transgender March on Washington, D.C. to be held during Weekend of Solidarity and Celebration March 31-April 1, 2019

NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the transgender and gender non-conforming communities will take a major stand against hate and discrimination when they rally in the nation's capital for the first ever National Trans Visibility March (NTVM) on Washington, D.C., Monday, April 1st. Transgender individuals from major metropolitan cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Memphis, New York and San Francisco will come together with their allies calling for equal rights, physical safety and demanding the transgender communities be officially and federally recognized across every state department within this great nation. The march is part of a two-day event which will kick off paying homage to transgender individuals with the Torch Awards on Sunday, March 31st immediately followed by a Trans Visibility Ball.  The weekend will close with coordinated marches of solidarity for transgender rights throughout the country.

Gilead Sciences Inc. is the proud presenting sponsor of the Trans Visibility March. "Gilead is proud to stand with the millions of transgender and gender non-conforming Americans. As a company, we're committed to equality and to using our platform to advocate for marginalized communities," said Amy Flood, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs for Gilead Sciences. "Gilead is proud to support the National Transgender Visibility March and to stand with the Transgender community during this critical time."

In November 2018, a day of remembrance was held and the upcoming march serves as another way to honor and demand justice for transgender victims of violence.  Transgenders continue to experience high rates of violence, murder, HIV, homelessness, and unemployment. Only by standing together, as trans pioneers such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera did during the Stonewall Riots, will all of the LGBTQA+ communities get access to the same quality of life our cisgender heteronormative counterparts enjoy.

"Until recently, our existence was not counted, and our visibility was suppressed," says Aryah Lester, NTVM Director of Ambassadors. Although the current administration has intentionally rolled back efforts to prevent inclusion of transgender communities in the US census, individuals from the trans and gender non-conforming communities have mobilized and issued a call to action to dismantle the social structures that have oppressed and disenfranchised these communities. This march will deconstruct the policies, laws, and systems that have jeopardized the health and safety of families and ourselves. Together we will call out and stand against anyone who discriminates, or initiates acts of violence against one of us. "If nothing is by us it can not be for us," states NTVM National Organizing Director Marissa Miller.

For more information please go to transmarchondc.org. Make your pledge today with the National Transgender Community and become a partner in the first visible transgender and gender nonconforming movement to come to our nation's capital!

DONATE:  https://transmarchondc.org/donate/
SPONSOR:  https://transmarchondc.org/sponsorship/

Direct all media inquiries to principal publicist Cordelia Donovan via email: [email protected] or phone (646) 678-6048 or you may contact Washington, D.C. liaison Thomasina Perkins-Washington via email:  [email protected] or phone (202) 486-0698.

About the National Trans Visibility March (NTVM): The Ties That Bind Us - On March 31, 2019 and April 1, 2019 we will march in solidarity in support of equal rights and inclusion for the Trans community. We encourage all to march while demanding justice for those whose lives were taken through senseless acts of violence and murders.

SOURCE National Trans Visibility March (NTVM)