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Meet 51 Kickass Women From The 2013 Trans 100

Riese —
Apr 11, 2013

trans100-flyer-1-682x1024The 2013 Trans 100, the brainchild of Jen Richards of We Happy Trans and Antonia D’orsay, Executive Director of This Is H.O.W, aims to provide “an inaugural overview of the breadth and diversity of work being done in, by, and for the transgender community across the United States.” The cultural conversation around trans* people tends to err on the side of “non-existant” punctuated by brief forays into “tragedy,” but Richards and D’orsay wanted to shift that conversation towards the accomplishments and strength of individuals within the trans* community.

From over 500 nominations, 100 lucky humans were chosen and the list was announced at a March 29th event sponsored by Chicago House, GLAAD, The Pierce Family Foundation, Orbitz.com and KOKUMOMEDIA; featuring Janet Mock, Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler, musicians Namoli Brennet and Joe Stevens, performer/activist KOKUMO and producer Jen Richards.

Antonia D’orsay said this about the Trans 100: “The value of the work that is represented by the 100 people on this list is immeasurable. These people demonstrate the diversity, the determination, and the incredible triumph of spirit that informs all trans people, no matter where they are. This is just a glimpse of what trans people can accomplish.”

Trans100-1024x379

Buzzfeed offered some brief bios of each honoree, but other news outlets have mostly just published a list of names. We here at Autostraddle wanted to feature a bit more in-depth information and some actual words from the many inspirational humans on this list — more specifically, from the ladies. To that end, we’ve erred carefully to include only those who clearly identify as women, but there are heaps of genderqueer folks, trans men and non-binary-identified people on the list that you should check out, though, so GET ON IT!!!

We included quotes for everybody we were able to find online writing by or an interview with.

As always, let us know if we’ve made any mistakes by emailing riese [at] autostraddle dot com!

Abigail Jensen

Tucson, AZ

Website: Arizona Abby

“…mostly [my advocacy] takes the form of simply being who I am, a woman of integrity and grace who lives in peace with herself, allowing others to see and learn about who I am and, in that process, to see that trans people are no threat to them and thus build tolerance and acceptance of who we are.”

via who i am and why i do what i do

Alexis Martinez

Chicago, IL

Read her life story: The Transgender History Project

“Jesus surrounded himself with every kind of person imaginable. He didn’t ask people you can only come in here if you don’t have any flaws. I don’t really look at a person and say we can’t include you in here because you don’t believe what I believe or you smell funny. We all have something that we can contribute. Something that we can put into the pot. It’s hard to understand that idea because you’re dealing with real human beings, their egos and all. There’s a lot of people, I’m talking about really brilliant people who grew up in church families and they were eviscerated psychologically in those churches because people twist what God says. they twist it to fit their definition.”

via Transgender Oral History

Allyson Robinson

Website: Crossing the T

“A lot of people think that because we’ve repealed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ we’re done. I don’t think that’s the case. I think we are at the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end of the work we need to do to make the military, which is the largest employer in America, into a truly fair workplace for LGBT people.”

(via metroweekly)

Anna Anthropy

Website: Auntie Pixelante

“We’ve entered this vicious cycle where this small group of mostly straight cisgendered white dudes are making games for other straight cis white dudes who will grow up and be allowed to make the next generation of games. And so what we’ve got is a monoculture. Well, a monoculture’s not going to be the defining cultural form of ANYTHING.”

(via Anna Anthropy: The Autostraddle Interview)

Andy Marra

New York, NY

Website: GLSEN

“Why do I care about Korean reunification? Or even about full equality for LGBT people? As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” I am not a conundrum nor am I challenged. I simply dare to be.”

via I Am Korean American

Bamby Salcedo

Los Angeles, CA

“My only advice [to transgender youth] is that we recognize that as a community we are very strong, and as individuals we are also very strong. Do not lose your strength, do not let anyone tell you that you can’t be who you want to be. As long as you follow your heart, as long as you don’t harm yourself or anyone in your process, whatever this may be… understand that as an individual you are unique, and your uniqueness is what ensures your place in this world.”

-via Latina Transgender Advocate Bamby Salcedo on Youth and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Education

Bree Sutherland

Missoula, MT

Website: MontanaTDOR

Cecilia Chung

San Francisco, CA

Websites: Cecilia Chung // Just Detention

“We, as trans people, are a very small group. We need to build alliances and coalitions with marginalized and oppressed groups in order to be heard. Doing this kind of work is an important component of that. I think that this is a better way to fight our fight because in return when we look to find supporters for our issues, such as ENDA, we might be able to count on them to support us rather than feeling like we’re all alone on that.”

(via huffington post)

Channyn Lynne Parker

Chicago, IL

Website: Chicago House

Christina Kahrl

Chicago, IL

“Perhaps the most important thing to associate with the word ‘transsexual’ is that we few, we happy few, just one in every 10,000 births, have always been here. Queens were the shock troops, the front rank at Stonewall. You may not know us, but we are just like you in most of our dreams and ambitions, expecting life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as is our birthright, as Americans, and as human beings. There is not a stigma to the label—I am a transsexual, and will be as long as I live. As labels go, I don’t just wear it, I own it.”

(via facebook)

Cristina Herrera

New York, NY

Website: The Center

Claire Swinford

Tuscon, Arizona

Website: Trans Haven

Eli Erlick

San Francisco, CA

Earline Budd

Washington DC

Website: The Transgender Health Empowerment

Harmony Santana

Website: IMDB page for Harmony Santana

via zimbio

via zimbio

“I just got a message two days ago where a girl was telling me that I inspired her. She said she was hiding for a long time and didn’t come out for a long time. She said she’s now coming out to her parents after watching the film. She’s very inspired to be herself and so happy. It makes me feel, like, I don’t know… [amazing?] … yeah.”

via Transgender Actress Harmony Santana Stuns in “Gun Hill Road”

Erin Armstrong (“Grishno”)

San Francisco, CA

Website: Grishno // Transgender Living

Harper Jean Tobin

Washington DC

Website: Transequality

Ida Hammer

New York, NY

Website: transfeminism

via the new york post

via the new york post (don’t click the link, the article is chock-full of nypost’s gross transphobia)

“It is easy to ignore an oppressed group of people once they have been systematically shut out of and alienated from a movement they rightfully belong in. Had trans people not been forcibly exiled from the women’s movement throughout the seventies and subsequently blocked from returning—at times with state supported exclusion from human right protections—things would be entirely different right now. The cycle will only be broken when cissexual feminists take responsibility for cissexism and hold themselves and their colleagues accountable.”

(via bitch magazine)

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