Hundreds of peaceful protestors rallied to support transgender and non-binary people and stand their ground against discrimination, in an emotional demonstration organized by the TransLatin@ Coalition outside Los Angeles City Hall.
Bamby Salcedo, president and CEO of the TransLatin@ Coalition, reached out to people after the news broke to determine the response.
“[We] decided it was important for us to have a space for our community to come together and just show love for one another,” stated Salcedo, “Also, to show the power that we have as a community and individuals and to really reclaim our existence.”
A crowd of people gathered outside City Hall, pridefully waving their pastel pink and blue flags, chanting, shouting and encouraging transgender and non-binary speakers at the event.
“Defining our Lives: Angelinos Response to Transphobia” was the Facebook event held Oct. 22 after President Donald Trump’s administration announced last Sunday that it will consider defining gender as biological and strictly determined by one’s genitalia at birth.
As stated by the New York Times, the Department of Health and Human Services wants to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX that is “grounded in science” and “any dispute about one’s sex would have to be clarified using genetic testing.”
The new definition would roll back federal protections and recognitions of trans and non-binary people put in by the Barrack Obama Administration.
Salcedo said she also wanted to send a message that despite the news, they can be who they are and stand up for themselves.
Trans Policy Coordinator for TransLatin@ Coalition, Michaé Pulido, admits she was not shocked because of Trump’s previous antics towards the trans community.
“It was more so confusion because not a lot of people get the legality of things. I found that a lot of people in the coalition didn’t know what it meant to want to legally define gender,” Pulido said.
Pulido and Salcedo are both trans and Pulido goes by she/they.
Pulido is an undergraduate college student and says it can be tiring navigating through a system, “where professors don’t respect you, peers don’t respect you, you’re not represented in the curriculum, you’re not taught about your histories and everything is just really really triggering a lot of the time.”
She advises college students to keep their heads strong, be aware of resources and communities on campus, or if they do not exist, create those spaces on their own.
Salcedo said the demonstration brought music, played by a DJ to uplift people and to celebrate who they are, rather than have them feeling sorry for themselves.
Pulido and Salcedo believed the event’s turnout was successful and important for other trans people to know they are not alone.
“We are going to be here because we have been here and we will continue to be here despite the [people] who think they can dictate how we can live our lives,” Salcedo said.
