S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. Today is Trans Day of Remembrance. We'll talk about the lives lost to transphobic violence and what this day means to the community. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired and make you think. We'll talk about how people are observing this day.
S2: There's so much focus around just how their lives ended that we really don't focus on the fact that trans people do live.
S1: Then we'll dive into the intersectionality of transphobia and racism , plus focus in on the trans community in Imperial Valley. That's ahead on Midday Edition. A. Transgender Day of Remembrance honors victims of transphobic violence worldwide. This day also spreads awareness about the diverse identities and experiences of transgender people and the issues they face. This evening , the San Diego LGBT center will host an event mourning the loss of trans and non-binary community members. Some of our panelists will be speaking at the event and are joining me for a conversation now. Amber Saint James is a drag producer , performer and community leader. She'll be delivering the keynote address at the event. Amber , welcome back to Midday Edition. Hi.
S2: I'm so happy to be back.
S1: We are so happy to have you back. Also with us is Bliss Vasquez. They are the transgender and non-binary services program manager at Project Trans , which has run out of the center as well. Bliss. Welcome to you too. Hello.
S3: Hello. Hello. Thank you for having me.
S1: Glad to have you here. And here to give us a historical perspective is Nicole Bird's. They are the managing director at Lambda Archives. Nicole , welcome.
S3: Thank you so much for having me.
S1: Glad to have you all here. Uh , Nicole , I'll start with you.
S3: That same year , um , Chanel Pickett was also murdered. And so the murders of those two black trans women really were the impetus to create an event to memorialize not only their passing , but their lives as human beings and really recognizing the humanity of who they were while they were still with us. Right.
S1: Right. And it took some time for this day to be recognized in places across the country. So how did that progress first appear in San Diego ? Take me back to the origins of the trans visibility movement here locally. Sure.
S3: Sure. Well , before that , I just wanted to touch on the fact that TDRs was first held in November 99th , in Boston and San Francisco , which were the two cities that both of those women , respectively , were unfortunately murdered. Our records at Lambda Archives indicate that the earliest iterations of TDR here locally took place in 2004 , possibly earlier. But the most of the documentation that we have indicates that it was 2004. Um , and events have been , I would say , most notably the event that takes place at the San Diego LGBT center. But certainly there have been other efforts to have events to bring a light to not only the violence that particularly trans women of color face , but also trans people in general. Um , so I would say that the event that happens at the center annually is the kind of the , the big event. But there are also other events , I believe during the pandemic , San Diego Pride had a small event outside of their office , with plaques of the photos and names and ages of all of the trans people of color that had faced violence because of their identities. So.
S1: Yeah , well , Amber , you're a longtime activist and you've spoken at many other events in past years , just like the Center's.
S2: Right , recognizing that their stories did not end in the grave. Right ? Their stories had to start. There was so much in the middle , and there's so much focus around just how their lives ended that we really don't focus on the fact that trans people do live right. And I feel like for me , Trans Day of Remembrance is being able to go through that journey of recognizing that that is why we do the work that we do. That's why I do. The activism that I do right is trying to make sure that the world that I'm existing in does not just focus on the way that I die , but in the way that I lived. Right. And I want the world that I'm living in to be one that doesn't try to kill me as often. Right ? Um , so much of what I've been able to do and what , like over ten years worth that I've been doing , like drag and activism and melding those two worlds. Um , a lot of that work was also at San Diego State University , where I worked at their Pride Center. Right. I also worked at their Black Resource Center and help them bring on their black resource center. And so much of the programming that I was doing was in trying to create more spaces for queer students , right ? For queer folks that were of Aids , that were going to be making movements and changes and shaking up the world out there. Right. So that way they would begin to know that they are so much more and than what the rhetoric says , that says that you will only live to 35. Right ? Letting them know that you are so much more powerful than the words that are thrown at you , than the narratives that you start to believe that you can be so much more than that and that you will not become some statistic. You will not just be a photo and an age that we are renaming years later , that you will be someone who has made a difference in this world , right ? Um , and I feel like that's part of what Trans Day of Remembrance is for me. And I feel like even when we look across the board , there is this shift of , um , of really trying to refocus the narrative , right , of even it being this day of remembrance and being like , it can be a day of action , right ? It can be a day in which we are doing something about the violence that is causing us to need to have this not holiday , but needing to have this day just for the remembrance of them. Right ? Use that and use the emotions that we're feeling to get out there and get active. Right.
S1: Right. Well , bliss , you know , speaking of commemorating those lives lost at this event this evening , a list of names will be read to memorialize the people who lost their lives in anti-trans violence. I understand you have more of a personal connection to one of the people on that list. Can you talk more about them and their story ? Yeah.
S4: Um , so , you know , I think to protect them , I , I won't go too into detail , but I definitely , you know , being the transgender non-binary services manager , I recently , you know , came into that role this February and before that was the case manager alone at Project Trans. And so recently , you know , as I became the manager , I'm obviously overseeing our groups and becoming a lot more closer to our facilitators and , um , getting to know everybody a lot more. And this year , uh , we've lost two Project Trans Pacific clients who , you know , we had to receive a call and hear about , you know , either how they passed or , you know , if it was a result of violence. And it's extremely difficult. I mean , um , all of these deaths are personal because all of these people that we honor look like our friends are our community , feel like us , feel like part of our story. And so this year , you know , it definitely is going to be this is going to be my third trans day of remembrance three is also my favorite number. So I'm really looking forward to tomorrow and holding space with everyone because as I've been here at the center , I've really seen Theodore kind of evolve into this place , this really nice balance of solemn gathering and commemoration of those that we've lost , and also a huge gathering of community to order at the center sees about 200 plus people attendees each year. And that is our largest attended event of Project Trans , which is sad and beautiful in the same way. Right ? Like we see the largest attendance for when we are gone and we have passed. But you know , that's not the same numbers when we're having a , you know , trans healthcare fair or a trans day of empowerment.
S1:
S2: Right. All these different things that are culminating right now politically in the sphere , make what the future for a lot of us will be a very , very , a little bit scary to be very honestly. Um , and so I think being able to come together and being able to have these spaces where we can be able to touchstone with our community and recognize that why we do what we do , and to be able to revitalize us and recognize the importance of why we need to continue to fight right , while still allowing space for us to refresh ourselves. Right. You cannot just keep fighting and keep fighting , keep fighting and have nothing to report back into yourself. And I feel like being in community spaces is how we continue to pour back into each other , right ? It's how we continue to sustain ourselves throughout the fight because , um , cough , cough the next four years is going to be very , very interesting and very troublesome for our community. But as we have done before , we always find very innovative solutions to be able to come to the aid of our community , even when the government and , you know , social policies and things do not represent our community well.
S1: And , you know , we're going to talk more about the next four years in our our next segment. But Amber , um , it was a report last year that found that more than half of victims lost to anti-trans violence are black trans women.
S2: We're looking at , you know , colonialism , right ? We're looking at all of these larger concepts that are working hand in hand that create that specific experience where you have absorbed the unjust astronomical number of black trans women that are being murdered every single year. Right. And that's just the ones that are identified. Right. And , uh , and the ones that are trans women. And we're not looking at the even more expansive of looking at gender and femme folks. Right. We're just looking at this one demographic , and that's already it is unacceptable. It is very much unacceptable. Right. Um , and I feel like when people begin to recognize that all of these different oppressions are working hand in hand , it helps them to begin to see why bathrooms are an issue. Right ? It begins for them to see why fighting for gender affirming care for our youth should be an issue that they care about. It begins to show them why voter suppression should be an issue that they care about. Right ? You begin to see this through line between all of these different things , that people will sit there and go , oh no , no , no , no , no , that's not our issue. That's not our problem. Let's deal with this one thing and this one thing only know in the same way that all of these oppressions are working hand in hand. That should be why we are fighting for the liberation of all of us. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Go ahead. Bliss.
S4: You know , I just I just want to say yes to everything Amber say right now , every year we see the majority of our of our door victims. Loss being black , trans feminine , black trans women. And why is it that for 20 plus years now that has been acceptable ? Like , seriously , like I just want to say that as the exact word. Why is this acceptable ? One is one too many and it really something Amber said right now I was just thinking about , like in our everyday life , like we are advocating for our existence , right ? When we go into a space , we have to say our pronouns. We have to , you know , explain ourselves sometimes so that we don't , uh , have to go through the challenges of being misgendered or even just being misinterpreted because of the identities that we carry with us. And , um , yeah , I think I'll stop there. I need more. Questions.
S5: Questions. I'm like , ah.
S1: I mean , you know , and when I heard you , you mentioned , you know , even issues around bathrooms. I mean , we're just I mean , right now they're debating on Capitol Hill who gets to use what bathroom do you think ? I mean , what is what do you think is the underpinning of that ? It's like why it's a this big question of why I.
S4: I really believe so. I'm a gender studies nerd. I went to San Diego City College , I studied sociology , I went to UCSD , certain gender studies. I always said I couldn't go to school unless that was what I learned about , because that was just what I was trying to understand about myself , trying to understand about the world. Because to me , I realize the world has an issue with gender. They have a strict policing of this binary of how women are supposed to act , how men are supposed to act. And then the more , uh , the more specific we get in identities , the even more rules , or the even more loops that we have to jump through. And so when it comes to the issue of bathrooms , it's not really an issue of trans people using the bathrooms , necessarily. It's an issue of someone sees someone and goes , that person doesn't fit a gender binary , and therefore I don't feel comfortable , I don't feel safe. And it's really a policing of bodies , a policing of looks , a policing of you're not fitting the description or prescription that society has given you of what you are supposed to be. And how dare you go against that. And and that is really like I love to talk about this , you know , in my job , in my real life , because this affects our people every single day. It really comes down to people judging one another on how they look , on how they're supposed to be. And if we all kind of took a second to think , who am I when I'm not thinking about how everyone else wants me to be ? That is really freeing. And I think for other people , when they see trans people go out and live their lives in a way that pushes against that grain and not only scares them because they go , wow , I've kind of been living in this box my whole life and look at this person just daring to be free. And when they see that other person , you know , rather than saying , hey , what's your name ? How are you ? They go , oh , disgusting. Or , you know , they spit on us or they say horrible things instead of , you know , embracing us. And really it just comes down to like that difference.
S3: You know , while people and I think trans remembrance obviously a very important day , um , people have learned to mobilize around trans death yet remain conflicted on how to interact with living trans people. And I think that the bathroom argument. Um , is a perfect example of that. And historically , one of the things that I like to remind people is that while transphobia and anti-trans violence exists in cis heteronormative spaces , it's also that something that exists within the larger LGBTQ+ community that we face as trans and non-binary people often , you know , it's not unusual for for some parts of our population or some parts of our community to have an issue with , um , you know , this dialogue about who should be using what bathroom. Um , so it's it's something that's even within our larger community. And I think that's a really important thing to point out that , yes , to Ambers Point , the next four years are going to be very difficult. Yes , there is this anti-trans , anti LGBTQ plus legislation that is very real and very scary. But we also have within the LGBTQ plus community , even people that are activists sometimes have that same resistance to oh , wait a minute , who's what are we doing with these gender neutral bathrooms ? I don't know if I'm I'm down with this or I'm kind of uncomfortable with this. So it's it's something that exists not only within spaces that are explicitly anti LGBTQ plus , but also sometimes within our own community. Yeah.
S6: Yeah.
S1: Amber , do you have anything you want to add to that. Yeah , I.
S2: Mean I think y'all have spoken to it. I think when we when we look at the because I now we've shifted into the conversation about bathrooms. But I think it's something that I remember I don't remember exactly , but I know that Laverne Cox had talked about this once , that really this issue around bathrooms is really the dominant society trying to push out queer people from existing. Right. Because if you don't have a bathroom that you feel comfortable using , or they just straight up tell you there is no bathroom for you , you either got to choose this one or that one , and either one you go into. There's going to be some violence then. Now you. How are you supposed to be using the restroom in an eight hour day ? If you're at work right now , you have to figure out your entire life , because now you have to exist in private. You have to find jobs that are only at home , or that are close enough to your home , right where you , again are starting to retreat inward , trying to push queer people and trans folks out of the public sphere. And I feel like when people I feel like if people started to recognize and see and dig deeper than just , oh , it's just a bathroom , it's fine. Just like use the other one. Like , what ? Are you gonna make it such an issue ? No , let's let's really , let's really play that all the way through. Because if if I were a black trans woman and you're telling me that I need to go and use the men's restroom , what the hell do I look like in the men's restroom ? They can look at there and be like , what is this woman doing in here ? Right ? And then if you go to the women's restroom and they're like , oh , what , what are you doing in here ? Right. So again , they they try to make it seem and I say theirs. And those that are pushing this narrative that it is this very easily understandable issue. It really is not right. And that is why for so many of us , these are bigger issues. It is not just , oh , it's just a bathroom. It's so much more than just a bathroom. It's so much more than just name calling. It's so much more than just , oh , I want you to get my pronouns. It's really understanding the full scope of what it means when you don't do that work , when it means when you decide to accept the ignorance that the world gives you.
S1: Still to come , how racism intersects with transphobia.
S4: Our most vulnerable populations as a client facing staff are trans women of color , trans feminine people of color like they are facing the most violence also too , because they're in modes of survival that place them even more danger here.
S1: More when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance , which honors lives lost to anti-transgender violence in the wake of President Trump's reelection. The transgender community is bracing for attacks on their civil rights. Fear and anxiety is also on the rise. Calls to The Trevor Project's crisis line increased more than 700% after the election. The group focuses on suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ people. I'm here with Amber Saint James , a drag producer , performer and community leader , along with Bliss Vasquez , the transgender and non-binary service program manager at Project Trans , and Nicole Verdi's the managing director at Lambda Archives. So , Nicole , one way that power is reclaimed in the face of discrimination is through highlighting stories.
S3: Temporary. You know , we just had an exhibit , um , that showcased the history of the House of Saint James , which Amber is the the mother of , you know , and we didn't get any pushback or anything like that. But sometimes there's an there's often a question that , you know , well , this isn't history , but it's history in the making. It absolutely is history. It's just current history. Um , at Lambda Archives , what we strive to do , particularly this year and moving forward , is contextualize history , meaning things that have happened in the past with what is currently happening , happening today. In fact , if you look at the history of Lambda Archives as an organization , it started with community members collecting um photographs , posters and protest signs from marches and programs and events that were happening at that time. So there's nothing unusual about collecting the current history. But what we're really trying to do and what we are doing and we have been successful in doing is saying , you know , our organization has been around since 1987 , but whose histories have been left out of this conversation , you know , and certainly throughout the course of the time that Lambda Archives has been an organization , we have shared trans stories. But I wouldn't say that we're particularly centering those voices. Whereas now that is absolutely a focus of what we're doing is whose histories have been the most silenced , um , who right now is in the center of this sociopolitical landscape , who is being targeted ? Um , and , you know , it's trans people of color. It's our immigrant communities. And in doing that , we're contextualizing not only what has happened in the past , but also what is happening currently in the political climate , um , with trans people of color really being the almost , like , the centerpiece to a lot of the political attacks and sociopolitical attacks happening right now.
S1: Break the intersectionality of that down for me , because there are people with with anti-trans attitudes , No matter what color. And yet trans people of color are targeted mostly. Tell me why you think that is.
S3: Um , I think it goes back to privilege often. It has to do with a lot of things being rooted. White supremacy is baked into everything , as we know. It's baked into our work lives , our social lives. It's baked into the art and culture that we consume. And I don't think that just because you are part of the LGBTQ plus community , that does not absolve you from being racist , that is , does not absolve you from carrying a certain amount of privilege. Although sometimes you definitely can see the sting on people's faces that when you tell them that. But it's true. Um , so I think even within when you're talking about the LGBTQ plus community as a whole , you absolutely have people that , um , you know , are often white. They have money , they have financial means. Um , and to them , maybe the big issue for them is gay marriage. And that's really what they're focusing on. But you have to , you know , what is the point of even being a queer activist or a queer community ? Archives. If you're not taking a step back , taking a break and and checking in with yourselves as an organization , as a team to really say who's lives , I mean , trans people of color , their lives are they are dying. They're being murdered. There is a certain amount of violence that does not happen to other people in the LGBTQ plus community.
S2: Because I feel like sometimes when people hear white supremacy , they think , oh my God , I'm not out there in a white hat , like I'm not a Klan member , right ? And I think it's understanding that , like , white supremacy is an ideal that has so many different ways in which it manifests itself. Right ? It's a continuum. It doesn't mean that you're automatically you're out there saying the N-word and burning crosses. White supremacy , and how it manifests itself in people's lives is also sometimes in how we're socialized. So sometimes I can that can come up in Colourism , right ? Which can be that you have a preference or you have more of a care for folks that are closer to whiteness , right ? Both in how they show up in the world , which could be the the amount of like money and access that they have , like their social , um , their social status. Right. Um , that could also be in terms of their access to education. Right ? It's it's so many different things that go into these white supremacist ideals that manifest in people that they may not even know. Right. And I feel like so often when , especially when people that are coming from places of privilege. So when we're primarily thinking about like affluent , white , cisgender folks , that here , oh my God , like you , you're you're participating white supremacist. Go. What do you mean ? My best friend is black. That's not what I'm talking about , girl. That's not what I meant at all. How that white supremacist ideal is popping up is in the fact that for you , the only issue that matters is about marriage equality , and that you're not also looking to liberate the rest of the community , that once you get yours , it doesn't matter about everybody else.
S4: I want to add to also what Nicole said about white supremacy being embedded in everything that we do. Like to put it in a simpler terms , you can think about how in a house we call the main bedroom of the house the master bedroom. Um , at a school , at a university , we often have Latina centers , black services centers. We have LGBTQ center because the main institution is not designed for those people to thrive. Many facets around us , physically and non-physical. White supremacy lingers , and colonialism still is lingering. Right ? Um , it is still lingering in our minds in the way that we were socialized and the way our parents brought us. So we constantly need to be interrogating in ourselves. How can I be better ? Or how can I , you know , filter biases that I might have as I move through the world so that I can just make better place around me for other people to come and join me and do the same thing and have these conversations that are truly like , life changing.
S1:
S2: So even before the specifics of what we saw , white supremacy had already been in play. White supremacy has been in place since the inception of the United States of America , right. When we're looking at the rape and pillage of native folks , right. When we're looking at the ways in which black folks were enslaved , right. When we're looking at the ways in which even the concept of race got introduced , because if it wasn't too far long ago , even Italians were seen as , oh , you are not white , right ? Until it became , oh , now there are black folks. Now there are all of these folks of color. Like now we need to actually have an us versus them , right ? Which is all about power , right ? When we are looking at the entire way in which our world is built , white supremacy has always been at place. And when we look at a leader , quote unquote , um , that is perpetuating all of these narratives that is spouting out all of this negative , violent language that is creating all of this misinformation , right , about folks and about , oh my God , the big bad , right ? Then of course , you're going to have so many people that , again , as we've been saying , are not doing that extra education , that are not trying to unlearn , that are accepting the ignorance that is given to them and not questioning it , then of course , they're going to think , oh my goodness , this is the great hope he's going to , he's going to solve everything. No , he's really not. And even for the people that decide that they would like to support him , he's even not there for them.
S1: Um , bliss , I want to know from you what your thoughts are on all of the anti-trans rhetoric that was coming out of the Trump campaign. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. You know , I think , um , he was really bidding on what's popular to the public taste right now , which is transphobia , unfortunately. Um , I also just want to comment back to kind of back to your back question , Jade , about , you know , what it had to do with the selection. And I also I wanted to know , you know , there was so much grief , right ? Post-election post Tuesday at the center. Like it was like a cloud came over us entirely. Like I felt like everyone in our community , we feel like something had died. Most of the trans clients. I mean , all of our clients are trans , right ? Trans are non-binary. And all the clients that walk through the door , I will say at least 60 to 70% of them are there because they're in crisis. They're they're there because they're in crisis. They don't have somewhere to eat or something to eat. They don't have somewhere to sleep. Um , they've been kicked out of their homes because their family , you know , found out they were trans. Um , you know , they're going through domestic violence. Like , our people are in dire need of services. And , like , it just baffles me the way that we are being , you know , plastered on TV as almost like being problem children or that we're causing issues when in reality we are really just trying to live our life. The fact that the bathroom topic even comes up is like , that's so trivial. Restrooms. Every human has to go past something , you know , like that is a very human thing. And why , like , why are we scrutinizing us ? And so it was also just making me think about , like , our most vulnerable populations as a client facing staff are trans women of color , trans feminine people of color like they are facing the most violence also too , because they're in modes of survival that place them even more danger. And so we often , I will say as , as the programs overseeing who sees our data , sees our clients , we don't have a large following of trans women of color in our services because they don't have the time or the resources to even make it , to get our services , to take time off from work , to be able to get , you know , maybe family care , or they may be care for a loved one. They don't have the luxury of being able to come to a group and share space. And so it's really challenging because oftentimes the the resources that our community needs are monetary. And the thing about America is that Republican ideals , Donald Trump ideals very much equate to , you know , we can't give anything out for free , and people want a free loading country and that they want equal health care and , you know , the right to use the restroom. And it's just like , that is just too radical for them. And , um , it's so unfortunate.
S1: Well , let me , you know , ask you this. I mean , even in the face of all of the uncertainty that comes with this shift in our political landscape. You all still find a way to celebrate joy in all of that. Talk to me about that , about why that's important , and in what ways you plan to do that. Absolutely.
S2: Absolutely. I mean , I think for me , so much of I think when people engage with me that a word that comes to mind quite a lot is always the word joy. And for me , it was something I had to learn very , very , very early on is that joy is how I power my activism. It is very easy to crash out , to burn out and not have the energy to give to the world. But when I find those moments of joy for myself is how I then am able to refill myself right ? And that joy can look like just having a cute little get together with friends at Joy can look like producing a large scale event. That joy can look like going to the Trans Day of Remembrance and being a keynote speaker. That can manifest its way in so many different ways. But I feel like as long as we make sure that we don't let the joy disappear is how we're able to continue that fight. Because when we have no joy anymore , is when we then don't see that there can be hope is when we see that there cannot be a future , right ? Is when we start to feel like we can't even manifest and dream to envision what a future can look like past this. Which is why I feel like so often , immediately. In times of crisis , large parts of our community immediately are like , okay , well , what can we do ? Let's mobilize. Let's let's get out there. Let's , let's have some visuals. Let's have some moments where we're having community come together. So that way they're not continuing to be pushed into this isolation that the world tries to push us into as trans folks. Right. Um , I think for me , specifically through my drag is how I'm able to create these moments of joy. Right ? Part of why we have Trans Day of Remembrance is not only to commemorate them for the life that they lived and the way that they were able to impact the world , but is also to memorialize the fact that they were taken from this world. Right. Is acknowledging that it is this , this balance of life and death , this balance of joy and pain , um , and discovery that happens in the middle of all of that bliss.
S4: I feel joyful just thinking about like , just when you started talking to Amber , just thinking about the times that I've seen you perform and like seeing that joy express live. Like every person's rendition of how their joy manifests is just so unique. And because every transformation journey is so unique like that , you learn how to recognize joy in a million ways. And I feel like for me , I often think about , uh , I've been reading a book about meditation and about I like to read. It's one of my joys is learning. I love learning about things that fascinate me , and something that has been a common theme in this is simplicity and kind of approaching having appreciation for the magic that exists around us all the time. And right now I'm thinking specifically of I think it's an anomaly that like , I'm a trans person , a trans , non-binary , Chicano person who gets to live by themselves in my home area of Southeast San Diego , where I grew up , I get to live with my cat , and I get to cook meals there and have my own clean bathroom. As someone who's , you know , lived in between housing before , who's lived on a couch , lived in someone's closet. Like , I've constantly been on the move , and now I have this place that I get to call home that I know so many of my trans kin don't get to have that experience , that when I live there and when I home make and I make pies and cakes and quiches because I love to cook , that's another joy of mine. I'm doing it for all of those people. I'm doing it because I have to. I have to have this story right now. If I'm not practicing taking in this moment , I would just be sitting at home letting all this time pass me and not like catching all the beauty.
S1: Nicole , I'll let you have the final word.
S3: You know , something that I'd like to leave folks with is that particularly in terms of the queer community , the trans and non-binary community , our queerness , our transness on our non-binary ness , um , their gifts , really , and despair during times like this can be a spark. This is precisely. I'm not sure. Um , you know , if you all have seen the meme or heard this , but this is exactly the time that artists go to work. This is exactly the time that our community rises up individually to kind of gather our thoughts and figure out what is this sparking for us. And like Amber said , you know , community work can be , um , it can be exhausting. It can be very tiring. Sometimes things happen late at night. There are a lot of things going on in one day and one week , certainly in one month. But on the days that I'm the most tired and I think I don't know if I can go to this event tonight , I don't know if I can do this , that or the other thing I never regret. And I am always so thankful when I pull it together to go and to just be with my people. Um , and I guarantee you , I can already see the things spinning. Despair is a spark , and this is exactly the time that the creative in all of us , it starts to go to work , and it starts to manifest itself in ways that create substantive change , and that also create a sense of hope within our community.
S1: I've been speaking with Amber Saint James , a drag producer , performer and community leader. Amber. Thank you.
S7: Of course.
S1: Also Bliss Vazquez , the transgender and non-binary services program manager at Project Trans. Thank you bliss.
S4: Gracias , Jean.
S1: Also Nicole Verdi's the managing director at Lambda Archives. Nicole thank you.
S3: Thank you so. Much.
S1: Much. What a great conversation. The San Diego LGBT Center's Trans Day of Remembrance event will take place tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. at the center's auditorium. Still to come , the unique challenges trans and non-binary people face in Imperial County.
S8: Here in San Diego County , we have access to medical procedures , medical providers. We have access to a lot of things that are brothers , sisters and non-binary folk. And Pro County simply do not have access to KPBS.
S1: Midday edition returns after the break. Welcome back to KPBS midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. As you just heard , groups across San Diego are remembering those who lost their lives to transphobic violence. And in another part of our border region , trans and non-binary community members continue to be impacted by transphobia , particularly in Imperial County and Calexico. I'm joined now by Raul Arena. She is the former mayor of Calexico and the first trans Latina mayor to serve in a California city. Raul , welcome to Midday Edition.
S8: Thank you for having me , Jade.
S1: So glad to have you here.
S8: And so for Trans Day of Remembrance , specifically with all of the transgender brothers and sisters and non-binary folks that we have lost along the way , some of them in very apparent acts of violence and murder , and others in more subtle ways like homelessness , lack of food , or lack of family. We have to remember and take in all of those feelings so that we can direct our fight towards justice and equality.
S1: And there have been some high profile murder cases in Imperial County , like that of Marilyn Cazares in Brawley. There's also the 2021 murder of Pope Black , a 21 year old trans man.
S8: Jade. Throughout my four years in political service , particularly , Marilyn's murder has been ever apparent. It has been politicized. Unfortunately , if you are on the left , you care , you sympathize , and it creates fear in the community as to what can happen to a brother or sister , someone who is still in the closet. But there are other segments in the community , in conservative circles where I have been told , as the mayor of Calexico , do not speak about Marilyn. That is almost to say , do not speak about her or you will end up like her. So it really does depend on who you ask. But of course , across the board , as we're seeing , they've instilled fear , unnecessary fear that hinders the the prosperity in our community. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S8: And this is why Trans Day of Remembrance is so important to re invoke their presence and the life that they should have had that was taken from them. If we do not keep saying their names , as it's famously famously said in many activist circles , particularly in the black community. Um , if we do not say their names and carry their spirit with us , their spirits will fade into history. And that's not something that we want , because without their memory , we cannot find justice for them and for all the trans people that come after them.
S1: You spoke to some of the broader issues in the community. What are some of the unique challenges that trans and non-binary people face in the Imperial Valley.
S8: I really like that question , Jade , because it brings up a question of privilege in the community , and I think it's a question of multi-layered privilege even within the transgender community. Right. We're sitting here in San Diego County , here in California , and while every person , every transgender person is affected by transphobia , we're affected in very different ways. Here in San Diego County , we have access to medical procedures , medical providers. We have access to a lot of things that are brothers , sisters and non-binary folks. And and pro County simply do not have access to. We barely got our first taste of access to gender affirming care through Planned Parenthood last year through a telehealth service , and that's very new. That's actually the first service that helped me finally be able to transition late in life. So first of all , it's the whole suite of medical services that are not there. Psychiatry is , in general less accessible to the whole Imperial County. So if you're struggling as someone with specific issues around gender identity and your feelings that are happening there , it's so much less likely for you to receive that medical help in Imperial County. And then , of course , we have to talk about our brothers , sisters , non-binary folks , a lot of them migrants across the borders in our sister cities like Tijuana and Mexicali , where we're complaining about the access that we have through our Medi-Cal or the providers or lack thereof , are people on the other side of the border might not even have access to Prep HIV testing , are going through being victimized by cycles of violence , not just because of their gender identity , but because of their poverty and making their way through this immigration system. So I really encourage my brothers , sisters and non-binary folks in the transgender community to definitely feel your pain , but also look around in the different jurisdictions , the different counties and the countries that border us. And also , you know , few feel out where we are so that collectively we can rebuild our strength again , remembering and acknowledging all of our struggles across their spectrum of diversity.
S1: Well , as we mentioned earlier , you were the first trans woman to become mayor of a California city. You publicly came out while in office. Then you were ousted in a recall campaign earlier this year. I'm wondering if you can talk about what that experience was like for you.
S8: Well , I believe it was a wonderful experience. I am someone with very long vision , right , in the sense that I know that the mega infrastructure projects that we were able to do for the community , which was to fix the new river , the most polluted waterway in the whole country to build not one , but two transit centers along the border on the west. A port of entry in the east. Port of entry revolutionizing Imperial County's transportation system. All of these things are meant to outlast any public servant. And in that , in that regard , I'm filled with pride that I was able to do so much and so little. I know that at the end of the day , in 4 or 6 years , even though we are going through a conservative moment right now where certain people feel like their needs are not met and have decided to vote Republican , and that puts us out of power. And in that wave , that red wave was even part of the reason that I was ousted on the grounds of my gender identity. Even with all of those things put together , the fact that our accomplishments for the community will continue to serve the community throughout the Trump campaign , throughout the Conservative City Council , fills me with pride , gives me the time to reorganize and go after that city council yet again. So I feel more than fired up. I feel empowered , I feel resilient , and I know I will persevere in our movement , will persevere. And that's what it's really about when we're talking about things like Transgender Day of Remembrance , these kinds of things are supposed to build perseverance for the long marathon , not the sprint , the long marathon that we have towards justice and equality on all fronts in the community.
S9: Well , do.
S1:
S8: My race was a lot of foreshadowing with what was going to go on on a national level with with Trump. It is a bellwether town for California. It is a bellwether race. Um , what happened with me in Imperial County , in Calexico ? Nevertheless , I feel very encouraged by everything that that's going on , and I still have a strong feeling that at the end , in 2 or 4 years , we're going to make such victories that are so big and so monumental towards justice and equity , that this brief moment of pain will have felt like a blip in history , or like a slight wrong detour , but a very necessary one to get us radically to where we actually need to be.
S1: I've been speaking with Raul Erina , former mayor of Calexico. Raul , thank you so much for joining us.
S8: Thank you. Jade , it's been a pleasure.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
