New York Times Trans Voices

"Becoming a man of my own design has taken a lot of hard work. To make my body and gender presentation align with my masculine energy, spirit and disposition has come with great sacrifice and great reward. I watched my family grieve the sister, aunt and daughter I was then grow to celebrate the brother, uncle and son I became. It was a complicated and sometimes an exhausting process but all worth it in the end.

The scope of emotions, questions and challenges we face within our families is emblematic of the cultural shift that’s happening right now. We’re all being challenged to understand gender as a spectrum of possibilities that is determined by the individual not something rigidly defined on a binary axis. The transgender experience is being addressed within the LGBT movement and explored within the broader population as a means of understanding. For so long, a lot of the engagement with the trans community has been antagonistic and shaming yet now we are pushing ourselves culturally to reexamine gender identity and how it’s created or defined."

#ThisIsLuv: Violence Against Black Trans Women

Transgender women of color have a higher media profile than ever before, yet they still encounter an unprecedented rate of violence. The campaign #ThisIsLuv spotlights black LGBTQ identities and the resilience of trans women in the community.

Originally aired on March 31, 2015

Featuring

Guests:

  • Tiq Milan (New York, NY)Senior Media Strategist of National News, GLAAD; Co-Organizer of #ThisIsLuv
  • Wade Davis, Jr. (New York, NY)Former NFL player; Co-Organizer of #ThisIsLuv
  • Octavia Lewis (New York, NY)‎Education Specialist, Hetrick-Martin Institute
  • Olympia Perez (East Hampton, NH)Content Director, Black Trans Media

#ThisIsLuv: They Loved Me as a Daughter, They Love Me as a Son

"I came out twice. Both times were met with a bevy of emotions: shock and awe, sadness and curiosity but ultimately, love and acceptance. 

...I would be a shell of the man I am today without the love, support, and protection of my wonderful family. This group of working class church going folks from the Rust Belt, have proven to be some of the most compassionate, progressive and caring people I’ve ever been blessed to know and our communities are filled with millions of people just like them."

Read more via Ebony.com
 

After Leelah Alcorn’s Death, These Trans Activists Want You To Think Differently About Gender

"I am acutely aware that there are places in this country where my marriage, my family and I are not protected simply because I am trans… As a Black man in the United States, there are a host of issues that I have to live in and contend with that intersect with the struggles endured by the trans community."

Read More on MTV.com

The Problem with "Do Black Lives Matter to Gays"

Featured on Out There with Thomas Roberts

“I just want to be clear that Black queer and gay people have been at the forefront of the Black Lives Matter movement”

“I think that people have to realize is that LGBT people, who are advocates and who are media people, our lives are not siloed. We are not a monolith. We have intersecting identities, intersecting oppressions, and discriminations that we have to work towards. The problem with this article was that not only was the title problematic but it was also misguided…If you want to start to motivate people through challenging conversations you really have to pinpoint exactly who you’re talking to and who you’re talking about. So it’s not that Black Lives Matter to gays, it’s about white gay men is who he’s talking about and the demographic that Next magazine reaches.”

 

What's Inside Candy Magazine's 5th Anniversary 'Transversal' Issue?

The anniversary issue includes a 22-page fashion portfolio using only transmen models, shot by Daniel Riera and styled by Out fashion director Grant Woolhead.

From left to right: Amos Mac, Chris Mosier, Chase Strangio, Sawyer DeVuyst, Scout Rose and Tiq Milan photographed by Daniel Riera and styled by Grant Woolhead. (C☆NDY Transversal 8th issue, Winter 2014-2015.)

Black Girls Only

My contribution to Ebony.com for their November Men's issue is an ode to my wife, my mother, my sister and good girl friends. 

"I absolutely unequivocally adore my Black wife. She's a Trinidadian woman who has introduced me to black peoples and culture throughout the diaspora. We find pockets of commonality and tension in the ancestry we share that has been split abstracted and layered with indigenous people and Africa. She helps me navigate the micro-aggressions I have to deal with on a daily basis with care and patience. I don't have to censor my language or my frustrations because that's my G, for real.  It’s the way she can rock a bone straight sew-in, dookie braids, or her natural curls like a boss. It's her smooth toffee skin and the familiar cackle and cadence in her laugh that I've heard my whole life from the women that raised me; my mother, aunties and sisters. She's the most beautiful and the most amazing woman I know."

Read more at EBONY http://www.ebony.com/news-views/black-girls-only-503#ixzz3K2QPCOrk 
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