CHICAGO (WLS) — Protesters are demanding justice for transgender and nonbinary individuals.

Hundreds took part in a “March for Trans Equality” that stepped off Sunday from Chicago’s Federal Plaza in the Loop.

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The participants said their demonstration was a response to escalating attacks on trans rights nationwide.

Th march came a day before Transgender Day of Visibility on Monday, an annual event celebrating the strength of the trans community.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump used contentiousness around transgender people’s access to sports and bathrooms to fire up conservative voters and sway undecideds. And in his first months back in office, Trump has pushed the issue further, erasing mention of transgender people on government websites and passports and trying to remove them from the military.

It’s a contradiction of numbers that reveals a deep cultural divide: Transgender people make up less than 1% of the U.S. population, but they have become a major piece on the political chess board – particularly Trump’s.

For transgender people and their allies – along with several judges who have ruled against Trump in response to legal challenges – it’s a matter of civil rights for a small group.

The president’s spotlight is giving Monday’s Transgender Day of Visibility a different tenor this year.

“What he wants is to scare us into being invisible again,” said Rachel Crandall Crocker, the executive director of Transgender Michigan who organized the first Day of Visibility 16 years ago. “We have to show him we won’t go back.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.