The person who has most inspired me, who most instills pride in my chosen trans and LGBQ families, is Sylvia Rivera. I ran across Lucky Michael’s book Shelter while visiting the Transgender Center in Houston a few years ago. It beautifully documents the work at Sylvia’s Place, a shelter that continues efforts Sylvia began to provide shelter for homeless LGBTQ folks, mainly youth. It was through that book that I started to understand how significant Sylvia has been in the trans movement. Sylvia fought for others, especially folks that the mainstream LGBT community often leaves behind — those who’ve had to leave school, who are orphaned or have been rejected by their families, who are unemployed, who are homeless, and who, in spite of these difficulties, maintain the integrity of their identity. When I think of what Sylvia, along with her partner Marsha P. Johnson, accomplished in spite of great personal hardship in her own life, I am enormously proud and honored to be part of a wonderful trans heritage that helps define who I am today.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 13, 2013.