Topic
Activism
Organizing, protest, and advocacy.
Vanessa Edwards Foster
A Life of Advocacy
Vanessa Edwards Foster gives advice on getting involved in advocacy and lobbying, emphasizing the importance of authenticity, personal stories, and persistence in learning to speak effectively with legislators.
Vanessa Edwards Foster
A Life of Advocacy
Vanessa Edwards Foster explains her entry into transgender activism in 1996-1997, attending conferences, lobbying in Washington DC and Austin, founding the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) in 1999, and advocating for transgender inclusion in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act through 2009.
Vanessa Edwards Foster
A Life of Advocacy
Vanessa Edwards Foster names congressional allies including Tom Lantos, Jan Schakowsky, Dennis Kucinich, Jerrold Nadler, and Anthony Weiner, and describes successfully lobbying Republican Warren Chisum in 1999 to support hate crimes legislation with 'gender nonconformity' language, though it was ultimately removed before passage in 2001.
Vanessa Edwards Foster
A Life of Advocacy
Vanessa Edwards Foster offers advice on lobbying strategy, emphasizing the importance of staying calm, listening to opponents' logic, and finding common ground, while expressing concern about increasingly polarized politics and the challenges facing organizations like TENT (Transgender Education Network of Texas).
Vanessa Edwards Foster
A Life of Advocacy
Vanessa Edwards Foster discusses her work with families of transgender hate crime victims including Fred Martinez and Gwen Araujo, efforts to change media terminology and coverage of trans people, and collaboration with Sylvia Rivera on the Amanda Milan vigil in 2001.
Donna Blaze Johnson
Life from 1970s to Early 2000s
Donna offers advice to LGBT youth to keep their heads down until they turn 18, assures them it gets better, and promises the community will be their chosen family and help them learn to date and survive.
Brittany Ramirez
Life in the Coastal Bend
Brittany reflects on 26 years of work with Texas Riviera Empire and 10 years co-founding the Coastal Bend Trans Alliance with Kitana, emphasizing perseverance and community support despite obstacles.
Brittany Ramirez
Life in the Coastal Bend
Brittany describes working with city officials to bring an LGBT proclamation to Robstown, emphasizing that engaging with warmth and humanity—rather than centering only on identity—opens doors and changes hearts.
Brittany Ramirez
Life in the Coastal Bend
Brittany shares how she stays positive by entertaining, surrounding herself with supportive people, and working to ensure everyone—especially disadvantaged youth—is safe and loved.
Brittany Ramirez
Life in the Coastal Bend
Brittany credits trans advocate Katana Sanchez with teaching her to use her voice for advocacy, leading to organizing the Be Human concert, donating proceeds to Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation, and starting Coastal Bend Trans Alliance in January 2016 as a support group for trans individuals, youth, and parents.
Brittany Ramirez
Life in the Coastal Bend
Brittany Ramirez responds to questions about prejudice against survival work, explaining it as a necessity for people who are kicked out and have no other options to survive.
Brittany Ramirez
Life in the Coastal Bend
Brittany Ramirez describes how the 1990s lacked resources and community support compared to today, when trans people can more easily find help through social media and connections.
Brittany Ramirez
Life in the Coastal Bend
Brittany discusses working with early Coastal Bend AIDS Foundation advocates Matt Stevens and Laura Yates, praising their ongoing community work and the evolution of Pride Corpus Christi into year-round visibility and advocacy.
Brittany Ramirez
Life in the Coastal Bend
Brittany recounts joining CCLGBT in May 2016 and, after the Orlando Pulse shooting, organizing a vigil with Mayor Nelda Martinez and DA Mark Gonzalez that drew over 500 people, leading to the first Pride downtown in June 2016 and the eventual founding of Pride Corpus Christi as a nonprofit.
Brittany Ramirez
Life in the Coastal Bend
Brittany describes the Coastal Bend Trans Alliance's year-round work supporting trans individuals and families, including Trans Day of Remembrance and Visibility events, and highlights Evangeline Reyes's Trans Visionary program helping formerly incarcerated and struggling trans people.
Brittany Ramirez
Life in the Coastal Bend
Brittany reflects on working with affirming churches like All Saints, Unitarian Universalist, and Grace Church, noting that despite learning later that some people disliked her personally, she prioritizes the mission over ego, focusing on youth empowerment and future advocacy.
Brittany Ramirez
Life in the Coastal Bend
Brittany hopes her legacy is one of hope and inspiration, urging people to avoid illegal body modifications and self-medication, and recounts living stealth from 1996 to 1999 before returning to performance in 1999.