A national gathering of transgender advocates is heading to Puerto Rico this fall amid escalating attacks on trans rights—with several Illinois organizers helping lead the effort before it comes to Chicago in 2027.
The National Trans Visibility March (NTVM) takes place Oct. 14-17 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and features a summit, awards ceremony and rally culminating in a large-scale march to the steps of the island governor’s home.
Puerto Rico was chosen because of rising anti-trans legislation and ongoing violence against trans people on the island—issues compounded by its political status and limited federal representation, said Marissa Miller, a Chicago-area organizer who founded the NTVM in 2019.
That includes a law signed by Puerto Rican Gov. Jenniffer González-Colón, who took office last year, banning gender-affirming care for anyone under 21 and threatening health professionals who offer this care with a $50,000 fine and up to 15 years in prison.
“We need to hear from our peers that are experiencing these issues… so we can take that back to policymakers and push for change.”
For Lluvia Ramirez, a Chicago-based organizer who was born in Puerto Rico, bringing the march to the island is both strategic and deeply personal.
“There’s still a lot of fear around being visible—people are scared for their safety,” said Ramirez, the march’s strategic director of linguistics. “That’s why it’s important for us to show up in numbers… to show that we’re here.”
Since its founding, the march has grown from a one-day demonstration into a multi-day convening focused on policy, safety and long-term organizing.
This year’s programming includes a policy and safety summit, where national organizations will lead discussions on health care access, legal protections and safety for transgender people. Organizers will also draft a white paper outlining next steps for transgender advocates nationwide.
Miller said the goal is to move beyond visibility alone toward coordinated, year-round action.
That urgency comes as transgender people—especially youth—face mounting legislative attacks nationwide, including efforts to restrict gender-affirming care and limit participation in public life.
For Jay Diaz, the march’s education and training strategy director and a Chicago-based public health worker, the event is also about ensuring young people know they are not alone.
“It’s imperative to show… they do have a community,” Diaz said. “I wish I saw a national trans visibility march when I was growing up. It would have helped me a lot in my journey.”
Diaz, who works with LGBTQ+ youth across Illinois through the Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago, said access to resources and affirming spaces can vary widely—especially outside major cities like Chicago.
“This is about showing up for those who might not have that support where they are,” Diaz said.
Chicago’s role in shaping this year’s march points to what comes next.
NTVM is set to come to Chicago in 2027, a move that builds on the city’s reputation as a hub for transgender advocacy and resources in the Midwest.
Ramirez said Chicago—and Illinois more broadly—has become a model for how local leaders can push for policy change while building strong networks of community support.
“The whole world looks to Chicago—or looks to Illinois—to see what we’re doing when it comes to changing laws and pushing things forward,” Ramirez said.
But organizers say the goal is not to center one city, but to connect transgender leaders and advocates across regions.
That’s reflected in this year’s march, which includes partnerships with national groups like the TransLatin@ Coalition and local Puerto Rican organizers helping shape the programming and priorities on the ground.
Miller said bringing together those perspectives is critical to building a unified strategy at a time when transgender communities face different challenges depending on where they live. The long-term vision for the march is not just to gather, but to build sustained momentum for policy change.
“It is more than visibility,” she said. “Now we have to put action behind our visibility.”