Trans March Turns 20

It's been a decade since I've been to Trans March. I first learned of it back in 2008 as I was beginning my own personal journey of self-discovery and coming out as trans. That year, I met a trans woman who had a banner for Gwen Araujo  I got to carry it with her friend.

Her name was Tiffany, and she had a Trans Pride flag on a flagpole that she was carrying. This year, I'm carrying my own Trans Pride flag as I return to the event for the fifth time. I'm looking forward to it.

The event was created out of protest over the mistrial in the Gwen Araujo murder case 20 years ago. They ended up being convicted, but there was a real worry that they were going to get away with using a "trans panic" defense.

Pride has many colors, messages and needs that must be addressed. Although it's more corporate these days and seems to be more commercialized, the whole pride event was born out of a protest for LGBT rights.

We've made many strides through the years, but the latest hill we find ourselves battling on is trans rights. People who want to take them away from us are even trying to divide the trans community from LGB, which is a ridiculous idea. 

Trans women, particularly trans women of color, have helped pay for our rights with their blood and their lives in some cases. When you look at things such as the Cafeteria Riots and Stonewall, you begin to understand the role transgender people have played in the LGBT rights struggle.

Dyke March had long been established when they allied with the transgender community for Trans March. We are able to gather at Dolores Park on the Friday of Pride every year to hear speakers and see different entertainers. We also learn about the different groups that are there to help us in our time of need. Then, we march on the streets of San Francisco for our voices to be heard.

I feel like this is an important event that people in the trans community who know the struggle should attend at least once. If that's not possible, we need more events like this popping up across the country and around the world.

There's an attempt to divide and conquer us, and the reality is the trans umbrella itself is big. It's not just about transitioning and becoming the gender that you identify with and leaving it all behind you. It is for some, and that should be respected.

Some people are happy in the journey itself and might even be fluid in their transition. Some people engage in the expression of gender, meaning they may dress and identify with a gender in the moment, but they may not always choose to do so.

There was a Latina trans woman at the second Trans March event that I attended, and she made a statement that I felt mattered. She said that whether you are just a crossdresser or fully transitioning, you matter and your journey is no less valid. She even went back and corrected herself by saying, "no, you're not JUST a crossdresser."

The transgender community itself can be divisive over the idea of drag queens, sissies and crossdressers as if they are somehow invalidating the whole movement by their existence. I strongly disagree with that. Some people have come into their transition after discovering more about themselves through the expression of their gender.

The discussion of passability is at the forefront of this battle, because not everybody is passable in terms of looking like they were naturally born in the gender they express. There was a time when people wouldn't completely come out until they felt they could pass, but now people come out when they're comfortable enough. That was the case with me. I just knew I had to be myself when I finally went public.

The important thing about the trans movement and being transgender is that there's no right way to do it. What may work for you may not work for somebody else. You have to be you and be proud. That's the takeaway, in my opinion. That's what Trans Pride is all about. No more hiding in shame.

We march with allies for the right to be. For the right to have an opportunity to work and to have a place to live. Frequently, the trans community is marginalized and barely getting by with a roof over their head or employment. We end up on the streets, addicted to drugs or even working as escorts.

Part of the movement this year is about the blowback against trans youth. States are now enacting laws that are trying to make it impossible for parents to allow their children to transition into the gender they identify with. 

These people would rather force the youth to go through a puberty based on the body they were assigned at birth, rather than the gender they identify with.

The problem with that is the emotional scars that people go through when they know who they are on the inside. Since we have the medical ability to help the youth transition and be more comfortable in their bodies growing up and they can go through a more natural feeling puberty, why not let them? 

The other thing is parents are now understanding their children to the extent that they still want to give them love and guidance, while letting them transition. It's not like it has been in the past where kids get kicked out of their homes for being trans, abused in some cases and just left to go it alone.

This is the important battle. Trans healthcare is a basic human right. It's starting with the effort to take away trans youth health care, but the ultimate goal is to eradicate the transgender community completely. People speaking out against the community have even used the word eradicate. It's genocide. Let's call it what it is.

What events like Trans March do is make the community visible to everybody at large. We're not hiding. We are who we are, and we're proud of who we are. Trans rights are human rights. This is the 20th Anniversary of the establishing of Trans March, and I am very much looking forward to being here. 

I want to meet some of the voices standing up for our rights. For me personally, I may not agree with every message being pitched at this event, but I agree with our basic right to be who we are and to live authentically with the fair opportunity that anybody else would have for the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.