The following is a statement from The Asheville Free Press' co-owners, both of whom are Transgender.
Today, March 31, 2022, is Transgender Day of Visibility.
While visibility is certainly better than erasure, visibility alone is not enough. As Transgender people have become more visible, we have also become the targets of increasing hostility and violence.
Right now, hundreds of bills that aim to legislate trans people out of existence are flooding states all around the country. Some of the more high-profile ones target trans children, specifically. Trans women, specifically Black Trans women, face alarming amounts of fatal violence.
Uplift and celebrate the Trans people in your lives. See us for who we are. We deserve that, but it's the bare minimum. We deserve more.
Trans people deserve solidarity. Trans kids deserve protection. Trans people deserve power.
Get Informed and Get Involved
This is a non-exhaustive list of resources and local or regional organizations you can support. If you know of something that should be on this list, please reach out to editor@ashevillefreepress.com and we will add it.
Legislative:
- Learn about the anti-Trans legislation currently flooding the US.
- Support Trans youth in South Carolina who are fighting legislation that prevents them from participating in sports with their peers.
Community:
- Donate to Tranzmission Prison Project, an Asheville-based organization that sends free literature and resources to incarcerated members of the LGBTQ community
- Check out House of Kanautica, an organization dedicated to freeing Kanautica Zayre-Brown, a Black Trans woman, from incarceration. The page also regularly fundraises for other Black trans women.
- Support Free Ashley Now, an effort to free Ashley Diamond, a Black Trans woman, from incarceration in Georgia.
- Donate to the Aston Park Defendants, many of whom are Trans and are facing felony charges in connection to a protest in late 2021.
- Donate to Asheville Survival Program, a mutual-aid project largely organized by Trans and Queer people.
- Support local LGBTQ youth via Youth Outright.
- Support the Steady Collective, a local harm reduction program with a majority Trans staff.
- Check out this reading group on Atmospheres of Violence: Structuring Antagonism and the Trans/Queer Ungovernable facilitated by Ash Williams, a local Trans organizer.
Business:
- Buy art and clothing from Emote, a Trans-owned art and thrift shop.
- Buy books at Firestorm, a Trans-owned bookstore and movement space.
- Get a haircut at Trust Studio, a Trans-owned hair studio.
- Incantation Tattoo is a trans-owned tattoo parlor.
- Support the opening of a new Trans-owned filipinx restaurant, Neng Jr's.
And of course, you can support The Asheville Free Press. We are 100% funded by our community. You can become a Patron or make a one-time donation via Venmo: @avlfreepress
