GREEN BAY - The Walnut Street and Main Street bridges will light up pink, white and blue Monday in honor of International Transgender Day of Visibility. March 31 is also officially Transgender Day of Visibility for the city of Green Bay, Mayor Eric Genrich announced in a proclamation. The proclamation recognized the existence and contributions of the transgender community in Green Bay. "We see you, we recognize you, we thank you for your contributions to the greater Green Bay community and pledge our willingness to walk with you, care for you and celebrate your presence in the city of Green Bay," Genrich wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The mayor read the proclamation as part of his remarks at the Celebration of Trans Visibility event hosted Sunday night at the Tarlton Theatre. The Tarlton, Bay Area Council on Gender Diversity, Bay Area Trans Youth Alliance and Third Space partnered to put on the sold-out event which featured performances and statements by local transgender leaders and community members, Genrich, state Rep. Amaad Rivera-Wagner and author Helen Boyd Kramer. The supportive energy in the room, filled with over 200 people, was palpable, said Martha Marvel, president of the Bay Area Council on Gender Diversity. It was especially heartening, she said, to see the number of family members, allies and community leaders in attendance. "At least half of the audience, if not two-thirds, was family and allies, community leaders," Marvel said. "To see them so engaged and involved, it bodes extremely well for the future, and I couldn't be happier." The success of the event is a testament to the resilience of the transgender community, Marvel said, which was a main focus of Kramer's featured speech. Kramer has published two books about her marriage with her transgender partner and teaches gender studies at Lawrence University. She encouraged attendees to remember the transgender community has fought through hard times before and will continue to do so, Marvel said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "(Kramer) also talked about the way we get through it is through community and unity," Marvel said. "And how critical it is now, and will be in the foreseeable future, for us to have gatherings such as we did. To gather and celebrate, be our authentic selves with another, swap war stories, joys and sorrows. And if we do that, we'll get through this." Attendees also heard from Oneida Tribe members Leslie Doxtator and Joe Torres, who smudged the theater and reflected on the history of Two-Spirit persons before colonization, Coleman High School senior AJ Uhl, who reflected on his experience in sports as a transgender person, poet EJ Tree and a song from the band Traveling Suitcase. The variety of speakers and performers was a way to affirm the depth of transgender people and their identities outside of being transgender, Marvel said. Increasing the visibility of the community is necessary to combat misinformation, she said. "We got to be more visible and have more people talk to us and realize we don't have two heads," Marvel said. "Our only agenda is to live." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To further celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility, Marvel was scheduled to speak Monday at the State Capitol in Madison, supporting the introduction of The Visibility, Equality and Privacy Bill Package by Wisconsin Legislature’s Transgender Parent and Nonbinary Advocacy Caucus and LGBTQ+ Caucus. The package is intended to improve safety and end discrimination for Wisconsin's transgender and nonbinary residents, Marvel said, and includes bills focused on making the name change process for transgender individuals easier and prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression. Even if the bills don't pass, Marvel said, taking public action and further educating people is what will make a difference. "It'll take time. We're not gonna flip the culture overnight," Marvel said. "Many people have 50, 60, 70 years of socialization based on misinformation and you're just not going to change that. Not quickly, but slowly." Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at vmbarrett@greenbay.gannett.com or (920) 431-8314. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @vivianbarrett_. This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay celebrates Transgender Day of Visibility