Dems mark ‘Trans Day of Remembrance’—among dozens of LGBTQIA+ days of recognition

Starting in February every year, each month has at least multiple days or weeks dedicated to LGBTQ identities or issues, with the entire month of June being Pride Month.

In February, holidays include National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, the Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week, and "HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day." The latter of those holidays is celebrated on February 28, and was first observed in 2022. "This awareness day is an opportunity to amplify the voices of those who have been criminalized based on their HIV status," per HIV.gov.

March includes Bisexual Health Awareness Month, National LGBT Health Awareness Week, National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and the International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Former President Joe Biden came under fire in 2024 for signing a proclamation that designated March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility. In 2024, March 31 also marked Easter Sunday, the holiest day on the Christian calendar. When asked about House Speaker Mike Johnson being outraged over the decision, Biden said Johnson was "uninformed" because "I didn’t do that."

In April, there is the International Asexuality Day, the National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, the Day of Silence, National Transgender HIV Testing Day, Nonbinary Parents Day, and the Lesbian Visibility Day.

May marks International Family Equality Day, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, the National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Harvey Milk Day, and Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness and Visibility Day. Harvey Milk Day is commemorated yearly on May 22 in memory of gay activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in 1978.

While the whole month of June is dedicated to Pride Month, individual days marked during the month include LGBTQ Families Day, the Pulse Remembrance day, the Anniversaries of the US Supreme Court’s Bostock ruling and its ruling on gay marriage, National HIV Testing Day, Stonewall Day, and the Queer Youth of Faith Day.

The 2020 ruling in Bostock v Clayton County held that an "an employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII." The 2015 decision in Obergefell v Hodges ruled that "The Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state."

Additional awareness days continue over the summer, with July marking Nonbinary Awareness Week, International Nonbinary People’s Day, and International Drag Day, and August marking Gay Uncles Day and Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

September marks the National HIV.AIDS & Aging Awareness Day, the Bisexual+ Awareness Week, which ends with the Celebrate Bisexuality Day, and the National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

Another month is dedicated to LGBTQ issues in October, with the month marking LGBTQ History Month. Among the days marked are the International Lesbian Day, National Coming Out Day, National Latinx HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, National LGBT Center Awareness Day, International Pronouns Day, Spirit Day, Asexual Awareness Week, and Intersex Awareness Day.

According to GLAAD, Spirit Day is "the world’s most visible anti-bullying movement inspiring LGBTQ youth, especially transgender and nonbinary youth to live their lives in their truth and authenticity." It involves figures wearing purple and supporting "LGBTQ youth by creating clear possibility models for them to thrive and be represented in the world."

Rounding out the year, the days of Transgender Parent Day, Transgender Awareness Week, and Transgender Day of Remembrance are marked in November, and World Aids Day, Pansexual/Aromantic Pride Day, and HIV Cure Research Day are marked in December.