This past Sunday, Brooklyn Liberation drew in more than two thousand attendees to the Brooklyn Museum to protest legislation that is targeting trans youth.
At the beginning of the rally, Black trans attendees and trans youth were invited to the front of the rally as allies in the community demonstrated what centering and uplifting the community’s most marginalized members looks like.
Attendees were dressed in white as an homage to a 1970 NAACP protest against Black violence. Event organizers also said that wearing all white was a way of battling mainstream Pride events.
“Chase Bank pride floats but [are] not actually doing anything for trans youth.”
There were six young trans speakers at the rally including Schuyler Bailar, the first trans D1 NCAA men’s athlete. He spoke about the dangers of preventing trans students from competing in school sports.
“Trans kids deserve that space,” Bailar said. “I need you guys to know something, especially if you’re a trans kid: the government is often wrong.”
Bailar took to his Instagram story following the event to express gratitude after seeing the LGBT community unite for trans youth, before recapping how he and his girlfriend had to face transphobic discrimination and escape an almost violent encounter for carrying a sign that read “TRANS ATHELETES BELONG IN SPORT.” Bailar’s experience immediately following the rally reminded viewers of how vulnerable trans youth can be to transphobic attacks.
This year has seen a record number of anti trans-youth legislation with more than 100 bills introduced in 33 different states. Consequently, trans violence has continued to rise throughout the year and is well on its way to top last year’s record number.
As Racquel Willis, one of the event’s organizers, explained, there is a direct link between the transphobic rhetoric behind these laws and the very real physical and emotional violence trans people are subjected to. The multiple legislations across the U.S. span from banning trans kids from competing in sports to more extreme bills that aim to classify giving a trans child gender affirming care as child abuse.
Extracurricular participation is how kids can find community and a sense of self during what can be challenging and lonesome years full of changes. The legislations looking to ban trans youth from participating in sports ignore a lack of evidence proving that trans competitors have some sort of advantage and instead rely on ignorant and inflammatory language used to discriminate trans people for decades. Furthermore, the legislation attacking gender corrective care for minors also ignores the fact that the biggest medical step a minor can take is hormone reduction, providing a temporary stop to their development if they chose to transition at an older age.
Brooklyn Liberation’s rally and march was so necessary. It not only demanded better treatment from lawmakers across the land but showed trans youth that there is a community ready to accept and uplift them.
Yesterday’s rally and march was the second annual event organized by Brooklyn Liberation, whose first event in support of Black Trans Lives last year drew in over 15,000 attendees. Although a COVID-19 vaccine was not even within sight at the time of last year’s protest, this year’s turnout was noticeably smaller.
Some of the organizations the rally and march supported included The Black Excellence Collective, Trans Lifeline, Magic City Acceptance Center, For The Gworls, The Stonewall Protests and TAKE Resource Center.
