PROVINCETOWN, Mass. – Real Life Experience, Inc. has announced that the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award for 2015 will go to Monica Roberts. The award, named after the late Virginia Prince, will be presented Oct. 20 in Provincetown, Mass. during the 41st annual Fantasia Fair conference.Monica Roberts is an award winning blogger, history buff, thinker, lecturer and passionate advocate on trans issues.
In 1994, after seeing an article with a problematic representation of Black trans people in a trans centric magazine, Ms. Roberts resolved to participate in the next GenderPac trans lobby day in Washington DC and increase the visibility of Black trans leaders in the transgender movement. Since then, she’s advocated for trans human rights protections and has lobbied at the federal, state and local levels in Kentucky and Texas.
Monica is a founding member of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition and served on its inaugural board as its Lobby Chair from 1999-2002. She co-hosted a GLBT radio show in her hometown from 1999-2001, founded the Transsistahs-Transbrothas Internet discussion list for African-American transgender people in 2004, and helped organize the 2005 and 2006 Transsistahs-Transbrothas Conferences that took place in Louisville.
Ms. Roberts is also a prolific writer. She wrote for the Louisville-based GLBT newspaper “The Letter” and since 2006, has authored the award-winning blog TransGriot. According to GLAAD, the writings at TransGriot made Monica Roberts “the first African American trans woman to create a news outlet that not only reports trans women of color issues but also showcases the leaders in the fight for equality of trans people… filling a void in the blogsphere.” Her writing about transgender issues from a Black perspective has appeared at Ebony.com, Loop21.com, Transadvocate, Racialicious, Feministe, Global Comment, The Bilerico Project, What Tami Said and Womanist Musings.
Monica seeks to not only end the erasure of African-American trans voices from a movement they played significant roles in starting, but get African-American transpeople and other voices of color more involved in empowering themselves. Her activism focus is educating the GLBT community and allies about our issues and concerns in addition to shedding light about the struggles of GLBT people across the African Diaspora.
“We delighted to help showcase the outstanding work of a true pioneer of our community” said Barbara Curry, the Executive Director of Fantasia Fair. Ms. Curry continues saying “Monica Roberts has made a significant, positive impact on so many. It is an honor to have her join us this October in Provincetown.”
Started in 1975, Fantasia Fair or “Fan Fair” is the oldest and longest-running gathering of transgender persons for mutual education, support, collaboration, and socializing. The week-long event happens every October in the resort town of Provincetown, Massachusetts. Presenters scheduled to appear at the 41st Fantasia Fair include Denise Norris, Marisa Richmond, Aaron Devor, Ph.D., and Dr. Jillian Weiss, and many others. For more information about Fantasia Fair, including workshops, daily schedule, and scholarships, please visit http://www.fantasiafair.org.
