Elle Moxley, founder of the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, talks about Black transgender visibility and rights with Blavity.
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00:00Hi, my name is Elle Maxley and I'm here with Blavity discussing Black Transgender Visibility and Rights.
00:07What led me to becoming an activist in this cause is I knew that if I didn't use my voice,
00:13and I didn't use my God-given abilities, that I would have a very different outcome for my life,
00:18and that I would be subjected to suffering if I didn't take a stand.
00:24And so it was my understanding that I wanted more and that I deserved more that led me to activism
00:31and led me to finding my voice and using my voice to advocate for what it is that I know I needed,
00:37which was more money, more access, more community, and more love.
00:43You know, Marsha was certainly a spirited individual in the world.
00:49Her contributions, whether it was through her honoring of her personality, her lived experience, her knowledge,
00:56the issues that she cared so passionately about, we know that those are not unique to one individual,
01:03but a collective of our humanity who cares about the interests of marginalized people,
01:11especially those of us who are transgender or non-binary.
01:16You know, Marsha's willingness to never compromise who she was in public or in private has always been inspiring to me,
01:26and so many. It is why she will always be remembered for being not only the catalyst for our movement,
01:35but her spirit, her human spirit, is what has been the most inspiring, I think, to us all, myself included.
01:42In our work, we really try to honor Black transgender people as we are,
01:47as opposed to trying to create some idea or facade or expectation around how we should be portrayed mentally, spiritually, or physically.
01:58And we have Marsha who lived a wonderful life and gave us a great model for how we can do that.
02:04But we also have so many who are walking in the footsteps and the footprints that she left.
02:09There are many unique challenges that face the transgender community.
02:13Some of those challenges, most people probably could assume, access to jobs, access to money, access to public spaces.
02:25Those are some of the unique challenges that are currently, I think, in the media cycle.
02:32Something that I don't think people are more cognizant of is the unique challenges around the human experience
02:41and what that does to the psyche of an individual, but what it does to the psyche of a community, of a people.
02:49A belief that people are constantly othered or not necessary to society is something that certainly does create a unique challenge,
02:59but also a minimalization because not everyone can relate to being othered or treated as a second-class citizen.
03:12That's not something that anyone should be subjected to, but we in the transgender community are.
03:21I think there's a unique challenge around understanding that the trans community is not interested in emulating models of survival and existence that came before us,
03:36that we're only interested in new models and new pathways that humanize us and create an opportunity for us to live beyond anyone's expectations.
03:46There's been so much work done around making trans visibility actualized,
03:53and so we have so many amazing individuals who have gone after their heart's desires,
04:00who have pursued their passions and their dreams, and who have really created platforms for themselves and others.
04:07And that's just something that I think we are just now getting used to seeing trans people affirmed,
04:17not being the butt of jokes, but actually being humans who are alive, who are thriving, who are well.
04:25We just saw two wonderful non-binary individuals win Tony Awards.
04:32And so it's just an example of what happens when there's space created.
04:38We have so much more work to do to create more space because while visibility has certainly increased, it still is on a minimum level.
04:47And even when those who are the brightest stars amongst us in terms of visibility and celebrity are lifted up,
04:56they're lifting up and society is still met with great resistance.
05:00So we still have a lot of work to do to visibilize the humanity of transgender people so that we don't tokenize
05:08or harm those who have created space for others to stand in the greatness of humanity.
05:15So my hope for transgender visibility and rights is that the future creates more opportunities for more than just visibility,
05:25that we are able to have more wins. The Marsha P. Johnson Institute in collaboration with H&M just set a world record
05:32for most attended drag brunch in history.
05:35And so more celebratory moments for the trans and gender non-conforming, non-binary communities,
05:44more celebration of gender expression and gender ideology, more equity in those conversations,
05:53more hope and more hopes actualized. That's what I hope for.
06:00You know, right now, we're as visible as one can be, considering there's 450 anti-trans legislation bills across this country.
06:09You don't get more visible than that with resistance and hate.
06:15But we also know that resistance and hate is because we've been so beautiful.
06:20And I hope there are more opportunities for our community to continue to display our beauty and to revel in it without fear or persecution
06:30or any of the things that we're currently navigating and overcoming.
06:33And we do need everyone to really stand in the window of humanity and to hold it up so that these things don't continue to make more gains
06:43and separate those of us who ultimately will be annihilated if we let the trans community lose.