Excerpts from a talk by Christynne Lili Wrene Wood at the Oct. 7 National March to Protect Trans Youth & Speakout for Trans Lives in Orlando, Florida.
To all our beautiful and loving Floridian rainbow family and allies, I bring our unlimited love and support from the Western end of the rainbow, the great golden state of California! With each swipe of the poisoned pens in Tallahassee, we feel your pain and share your outrage.
I fought against a very well-organized campaign at the Santee City Council near San Diego. During that meeting, a well-coached teenage girl emotionally described her horror and experience at seeing a “naked man” in the women’s locker room of the Cameron YMCA in Santee.
Even though several members of the YMCA staff assured her and her family that I was indeed a woman, her lie was picked up by a local right-wing media outlet and within 72 hours was both national and international news, with said girl being a keynote guest on the “Tucker Carlson Show.”
During a protest of hate coordinated by a couple of East County churches featuring failed politicians and more right-wing media coverage, I quietly and with resolute conviction made my way to a counter-protest that featured love, diversity, acceptance, and joy. The number of families there to support our rainbow family was overwhelming.
It was there that I introduced myself as the “scary transgender woman” who was being vilified just 50 yards away at the hatefest event. I invited them all to please join me at the next meeting of the Santee City Council, where I would address the lies being spread! It was at that City Council meeting that I first met Gloria Verdieu and was introduced to Struggle-La Lucha and Women in Struggle.
Salute to Miss Major
Now it is my duty, my responsibility, and my great honor to bring your attention to a civil, human, and trans rights icon who has seen fit to grace us with her divine presence today. I refer to Miss Major Griffin-Gracy – activist, author, mentor, and mother to countless of our trans sisters.
Miss Major’s accomplishments and sacrifices are far too numerous to mention during the short time allotted, but here are two quotes I particularly love: “Get off our backs and let us live,” and a particular favorite from the HBO special “The Trans List,” when asked how she would summarize her life, stated, “She came, she saw, she cared!”
Check out the magnificent interview in The Guardian by Sam Levine with Miss Major in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the sanctuary she has created.
Miss Major, our love for you is eternal, beloved mother!
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