Rachel Crandall, a trans activist from Michigan, USA, founded the day to provide a positive, affirming celebration for trans people.

"I went on Facebook and I was thinking...whenever I hear about our community, it seems to be from Remembrance Day [intended to remember the trans victims of hate crimes] which is always so negative because it's about people who were killed," Crandell explained in 2009. "So one night I couldn't sleep and I decided why don't I try to do something about that. I thought, why doesn't someone do it? Then I thought, why isn't that someone me?"