Trans Solidarity in the Frozen North

Written By Assigned
 

Our photojournalist documents a community coming together at the Trans Unity Rally in Lansing, Michigan.

 
 

words and photographs by Piper Bly

I kicked out of the studio at 1:45am on the morning of January 30th. The plan was to get there early as I usually do. The rally didn't start 'til 10am, and I wanted time to scope out the place before I got there.

I landed at 8:00am, and after a quick walk around the Michigan state capital—the site of one of seven protests that day—I stopped for a cup of coffee and to check in with contacts to let them know I had arrived safely.

The Michigan state capitol building in Lansing, MI, backlit by the sun.

I was in Lansing to cover the Michigan portion of the Transgender Unity Rally. The event--one of nine simultaneously being held across the country--was organized by the Transgender Unity Coalition in response to the executive orders and anti-trans policies being rolled out by the Trump administration.

After a quick stop at the car, I ran into one of the organizers, rolling a cart with water and protest signs towards the grounds with two friends in tow.

I introduced myself, and tagged along.

A small cart with a progress pride flag, a pack of water bottles, and a protest sign with the words WE ARE HERE in large letters sits in a red tow-behind cart. Skyscrapers are visible in the background.

A good deal of the protest signs were made impromptu that morning--markers were distributed, card stock handed out, and groups sat on the pavement and crafted messages of solidarity. Nearly all the signs on display that day were handmade, inked with care and held with pride.

A masc-presenting person in a tan hat, blue hoodie, and jeans sits on the ground writing on a sign which says PROTECT TRANS KIDS. The trans pride flag has been drawn atop the transgender symbol in highlighter.
Three folk stand in a field covered in snow. One of them, looking into the camera and beaming, holds a sign which states SOMEONE I LOVE IS TRANS AND I WILL FIGHT FOR THEM.

Rayne, a local drag diva, brought some life to the party, posing and flaunting for the cameras.

She addressed the crowd later on, saying "I think a lot of us are feeling the same way now that Trump's in office...in the salient words of Miss Juicy from 'Little Women': what the hell we gonna do now?"

"I think we have to remember that trans women have existed long enough to create our own culture, our own art forms. Drag, vogueing, ballroom; these are all spearheaded by black transgender women. These are artforms that are distinguishingly queer."

A drag queen, wearing egg-shaped sunglasses, black lipstick, drag makeup, a collar-choker, a red velvet coat and a bright green frilly dress poses confidently in the morning sunlight. She has multiple beanie babies stuck in her hair.
A queer couple, one wearing a rainbow face mask and blue, grey, and maroon sweater and one wearing a checkered face mask and black hoodie, lovingly gaze into each others eyes as they sit on the ground at the protest.

Slowly but surely, a crowd began to form, with folk piling into the capitol yards with signs, flags, friends, and camaraderie.

A crowd of folk walk towards the steps of the Michigan state capitol building.
A man walks along the sidewalk of the Michigan capital grounds, carrying a progress pride flag. A memorial statue of a cannon points ominously at him in the background.

Benji, a veteran and NCO, carried one of the best signs of the protest--the other side reading "Trans Vets, Still Serving, Still Fighting, Still Proud".

As they put it to the crowd later on, "I'm here predominantly in support of my brothers and sisters and nonbinary siblings who are serving with me in the military right now...and are facing the struggles we are struggling with."

A femme person in a bright white sparkly nightgown holds a flagpole with the American flag and the trans pride flag hanging layered back to back so that one side depicts the American flag and one side depicts the trans flag.

"I'd like to see everybody with a sign hold them up as high as you can, so the cameras can take us all in", announced Grace Bacon, a trans activist since the '60s, as she took the microphone to a resounding cheer.

As she put it, "My roommate did not come today. She feels that we're going to be preaching to the choir... and in a sense, we're doing a lot of that. But i think we're doing a lot more—we're forming up friendships, we're forming up ideas, we're establishing a network here. And we need that."

A large crowd gathers in front of the Capitol steps, all holding their protest signs high as a queer elder with a blue walker addresses the crowd.
An older couple, with a grey-haired woman holding a smaller pride flag and wearing a bright green padded coat and the man wearing earmuffs holds a trans pride flag and beam at each other.

Another person took the mic to say, "I just wanted to stay, check up on your queer friends who live in the southern states... I have so many friends who live in, like, Texas. My beloved lives in Florida. I love him to death... Please make sure to check on people who have gotten the shorter end of the stick."

A curly-haired queer person, wearing a denim jacket, black boots, and a trans pride flag slung up around their neck as a cape stands at the capitol steps, speaking into a microphone.
A large crowd of protesters look on as the speaker addresses them. Some of them hold protest signs that say things such as UNDER OPPRESSION JOY LOVE AND LIFE ARE RADICAL ACTS STAY ALIVE and TRANS PEOPLE WILL ALWAYS BE HERE.

Protest dogs were in abundance, and take it from this photojournalist--you can't cover a protest without at least getting some shots of the protest dogs.

A femme figure in a black sweatshirt and black leggings holds a dog's leash. The dog is brown, small, and fluffy, and seems to be doing their best to pose for the camera.

I got two. Two shots that is, not two dogs--although one person did in fact bring two dogs, as God herself intended.

A laughing, jumping queer person in glasses, a soft sweater and denim jacket, and a beanie that says PRETTY QUEER holds two fuzzy dogs, one in each arm. The dogs both look very confused as to what is going on.

Something that is worth noting is one of the other outlets covering the rally that day—WLNS 6, the local CBS outlet who ran a small bumper about the protest.

They make a point to cover "both sides", opening the segment with an "argument breaking out between trans rights activists and some people who oppose trans rights", and showed footage of one person arguing with the MAGA hat kids shown here and a car horn cutting their interview off mid-stream to try and prove that "things got pretty heated".

A reporter with the local CBS affiliate holds a microphone towards two teenage boys in MAGA hats holding signs that say TRANSGENDERISM IS A MENTAL ILLNESS and WHAT IS A WOMAN?.

I could point out that this is a fairly inaccurate framing of the event, but I think that's implied. I could show you my proverbial cutting room floor and all the photographs I have with the counterprotesters in the background, standing alone at the back of the plaza with no one bothering them...but I have a different point I'd like to make.

This was the whole counterprotest, the entire mass of those who want us erased.

A zoomed out shot of the reporter and the counter protest, showing exactly how small the whole assembly is. Buildings dwarf the figures in the small crowd. and the street is relatively empty.

And this was us--trans folk, standing proud, despite everything.

The full scope of the trans pride rally, with trans folk taking up the entire two-tier staircase. They are also dwarfed by the architecture, but there are so many of them that they ay almost seem to be climbing up the building with flags held high.

In that CBS interview, Mallory Fournier, organizer of the Lansing chapter of the Transgender Unity Coalition rally that day, stated "Even if you try to legislate us out of existence, we're still going to exist, and if we're still going to exist, we're still going to find a way to be ourselves."

We do exist. And I was there.

And this was us. All of us.

A shot from the steps themselves, showing the entire plaza flooded with queer folk. The buildings behind are shadowed by an intensely dramatic sky.
Two queer folk--one of which wears a parka with pride flag colors intertwined with black lines, and one of which wears a battle jacket with their head resting on the other person's shoulder--embrace.

And—despite what the powers that be may want us to think—we are not alone.

The Trans Unity Coalition's next rally is scheduled for DC on March 1.

Piper Bly is a professional illustrator and underground cartoonist. When she’s not busy plowing away at her drawing board, singing dirges in the moonlight, or wandering throughout the United States, she can often be found tending to her ivies, frying up some biscuits, spending unreasonable hours in the gym, or floating above the Mississippi River at midnight, waiting for the tide to take her away. Her whereabouts are undisclosed. You, however, can find her at piperbly.com.

 
Assigned
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