March 31st is International Transgender Day of Visibility.
It raises awareness of the discrimination faced by transgender people, as well as celebrating their contributions to society.
Cavan-native and transgender woman Victoria van der Spek says it also provides an opportunity to overturn negative stereotypes of the transgender community.
And while Victoria acknowledges "there were many difficult times in Cavan" when she came out as transgender, she added that "Cavan and Ireland as a whole has become more progressive".
She spoke to our reporter, Diarmuid Pepper, and began by explaining how important International Transgender Day of Visibility is to her and how she marks it.
Victoria speaks on her experiences as a transgender woman, and later in the interview speaks on some broader, cultural issues that affect the transgender community, such as the participation of transgender women in women's sport and tension between Harry Potter author JK Rowling and the transgender community:
