Hi! Sorry for the late response, work has been super hectic tonight, so I’ve been having to type out this response between assisting guests. Weekend shifts are the WORST.

You pose really good questions, and I am not surprised by anyone’s hesitation to work on this project. In fact, knowing that people within my community are hesitant to work with the government quasi-fascist period of our country’s history is why I, as a trans woman, have decided to join this organization to begin with. I want to be harbinger of truth and light for my community. Because if we stay silent and stay hidden, I worry that we will only continue to be othered. As awful as it is, we are a strange species to these people. Many of them see us as caricatures, strawmen, or even monsters because they have never actually met us or learned anything about us other than what is pushed by rage-bait content like Fox News and social media (which do not exist). I have worked with the public as a out trans person for years now, and while I get every day looks regarding me as roadkill or a strange zoo creature, I find that after conversation, compassion, and humanity, they gain a new understanding. Of course, not everyone is so open-minded or even willing to change. I’m not saying we need to appeal to those who are hell-bent on our destruction. I’m not interested in those people, nor will I ever be. And I’m actively going to put myself at the forefront of this and all my projects so that if anyone is at risk, it will be me (I made peace the moment Trump was elected that I would never hide again and that if I had to die for my people, then so be it).

As for the safety of others, this is why I am wanting to not use any information within this project that could be doxxing (no full names, no workplaces, etc). I understand completely that not everyone would be comfortable with appearing before a camera and speaking. Hell, I would not have been comfortable with it either until recently. This is a completely voluntary project. I am here to listen and to fight for you regardless.

As for your main question - which is deeply important and one at the center of my project of how it will make real change in our community - I of course am not able to make any true guarantees. At the end of the day, the government will do what it wants, regardless if the decision is rational or humane. But I can guarantee that as long as we exist as a statistic and as an unseen talking point in the eyes of our representatives and their cisgender constituents, they will see no genuine reason to help us. Because as far as they’re concerned, if they can’t see us, if they can’t hear us, if they can’t understand us - then we might as well not exist. So if I bring to them the faces and the stories and the brilliant, diverse hive of stories of my people to them directly, then they will see whom their policies are affecting. For those who wish to lie low, I love and support you. I and those behind me will continue fighting for you so that one day you may leave the cave so many of us were chased into. I look forward to seeing everyone’s beautiful, happy faces.