The trans community in San Diego is both visible and invisible. That is to say some are out activists and/or advocates for the trans community and visible in LGBT spaces in San Diego, some are behind the scenes activists and/or advocates and not visible in LGBT spaces, some are out to their friends and families but not visible in their workplaces and/or LGBT community, some want to be out in the community but aren’t and some don’t want to be out at all.
And, there are many other ways trans people would describe their level of being out other than what I’ve listed here.
When it comes to LGBT Pride weekend for the trans subcommunity of the LGBT community, how do those who want to be visible “brand” themselves as trans for the weekend so others at LGBT Pride can see that they’re there and exist?
Or, what if one wants to visibly identify themselves as an ally to the trans community?
One way the trans community will be visible at Pride weekend is at the Trans Barbecue and the Trans March on the same Friday as the Stonewall Rally. Another is through buttons; through 2-1/4 inch buttons that say “Trans And Proud” or “Trans Ally” that have a background of the Transgender Pride Flag, distributed at the Trans Barbecue, with instructions. When the march ends at the site of the Stonewall Rally, there will no doubt be dozens of people in the audience to listen to transgender keynote speaker Laverne Cox speak “branded” with buttons that say Trans And Proud and Trans Ally – and of course a trans keynote speaker at the Stonewall Rally also increases trans community members’ visibility.
We’ll ask people who receive buttons to wear the buttons at all LGBT Pride weekend activities and events they attend, publicly identifying their presence and their pride in themselves and their community, or by being visible allies in their support of trans people and Trans Pride.
Besides passing out buttons during Pride weekend, dozens of these buttons have been distributed. For example, Canvass for a Cause (on First Avenue between Ivy and Hawthorn Streets) has hundreds of Trans Ally buttons they have been distributing at events and actions already, and now have dozens of Trans And Proud buttons to distribute as well.
The whys for identification are important. Trans people were there when the LGBT civil rights movement was called the Gay Liberation movement, and trans community members are still here identifying their solidarity with their broader LGBT community. And the trans community, as Time magazine noted in their June 9 issue, is at a tipping point – the struggle for trans civil rights and ordinary equality is pressing forward and gaining the attention of broader North American society.
The trans subcommunity of the LGBT community, along with trans community allies, will be visible during Pride weekend in ways they haven’t been visible before.
This is a time where increased visibility is important for obtaining civil rights for trans community members; it’s important for the trans community to specifically show that the trans subcommunity of the LGBT community has hopes, visions and needs that the other subcommunities of the LGBT community can assist their trans siblings achieve.
It is a time where trans community visibility will help change the world. As Harvey Milk said about the gay community on Gay Freedom Day in June 1978, “Gay brothers and sisters … you must come out. Come out … to your parents … I know that it is hard and will hurt them but think about how they will hurt you in the voting booth! Come out to your relatives … come out to your friends … if indeed they are your friends. Come out to your neighbors … to your fellow workers … to the people who work where you eat and shop … come out only to the people you know, and who know you. Not to anyone else. But once and for all, break down the myths, destroy the lies and distortions. For your sake. For their sake. For the sake of the youngsters who are becoming scared by the votes from Dade to Eugene.”
The trans subcommunity of the LGBT community is counting on members of the other subcommunities of the LGBT community being our friends. And, if individual broad community members are not our friends now, they’ll be our friends in the near future.
