In honor of Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31), Channel Kindness is inviting our community, including trans and gender expansive young people to submit powerful stories for a special series, Trans Visibility Stories: “Visible and Proud.” Ten (10) storytellers will be selected to share their essays that integrate their lived experience with relevant research on the experiences of trans and gender expansive young people.  Your story may be used to help inform future research, resources, and initiatives designed to support trans and gender expansive young people 

This series aims to spotlight trans young people while sharing the evidence that kindly and bravely supports their safety, health and wellbeing, and humanity. At its heart, this series aims to honor the everyday kindness and bravery it takes to live visibly and proud. Together, lived experience and research evidence create a powerful way to uplift voices, challenge misunderstandings, and celebrate the strength and humanity of trans and gender expansive young people.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR STORY.

What are we searching for
We invite storytellers to share personal narratives in combination with relevant data (including citations from peer-reviewed research, reports, etc.) to tell stories that celebrate identity, pride, resilience, joy, community, and moments of courage. We invite you to submit your stories here.

Guiding themes and prompts
Storytellers may choose to reflect on the following themes and prompts while crafting their stories. Please note: You don’t need to answer all of the below questions. They are listed to support your writing process. 

Support and Community: 

• How have you received support and kindness from your community? 

• How have you offered support and kindness to your community?

• Who has affirmed your identity and how did that affirmation impact you?

Evidence-Based Care and Wellbeing: 

• What role, if any, has gender-affirming care (social, medical, emotional, community-based) played in your journey? 

• How has access or lack of access to gender-affirming care impacted your well-being?

• What do you wish people knew about gender-affirming care that research clearly shows but public discourse often ignores? 

Kindness, Bravery, and Visibility:

• What does being “Visible and Proud” mean to you right now?

• What data point, statistics, or study made you feel seen? 

• Tell us about a time when you were braver enough to show up as your authentic self. What made that moment possible? 

• Tell us about a time when your visibility create kindness, for yourself or for someone else

What research may storytellers cite:
Storytellers are also encouraged to reference research focused on the experiences of trans young people including but not limited to: 

• Born This Way Foundation + Hopelab’s national survey on LGBTQ+ young people’s experiences in online spaces.
• Born This Way Foundation + Hopelab’s research brief on how trans young people seek and experience online support.
• Born This Way Foundation’s resource guides for active allies, family members, and tech and social media companies to support the LGBTQ+ community. 
• The Trevor Project’s research brief on gender-affirming care and reports on LGBTQ+ mental health.
• University of Pennsylvania’s Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative’s resources and publications centering the needs of trans young people.  
• Movement Advancement Project’s (MAP) tracking of over 50 LGBTQ+ related laws and policies across the United States.

Submission link: https://forms.gle/KapPkgyyJRfhgXrx8

Submission deadline: May 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET

Who will be featured: Ten (10) storytellers will be selected for this special series

Honorarium: Each selected author will receive a $100 stipend 

Storytellers Club: Join us for a special Storytellers Club on April 16th at 8pm EST to learn how to more about our trans visibility series and how to seamlessly integrate research into your story!

Every story matters: Even if your story is not selected for publication, your voice matters to us. We may use your story to identify trends and themes in story submitters’ lived experiences.