Through the Static

By Hannah Saunders

The Gender Equality Movement’s (GEM) inaugural event on April 3 outside of the Henry M. Jackson federal building brought about 50 community members together to celebrate Trans joy, resilience, and visibility. Speakers highlighted the beauty of the Trans community and expressed what is needed to keep it protected, going on to march for several blocks, only to return and find their chalk art actively being destroyed. 

Blue, pink, and white messages that read “Protect Trans Migrants,” “Love Not Hate,” “Trans Joy,” “Identity is Beautiful,” and “Give Trans a Chance,” among others, were sprinkled across the plaza. One person wrote “CRACK AN EGG” on one wall, with a medium-sized pink Easter bunny stuffed animal placed near it, which sat next to a white woven basket full of eggs. Beneath the basket were flyers with QR codes to support Trans people in Kansas and Idaho. 

Friday evening traffic rolled by, with several cars honking in support, and Morgan May from Mutual Aid Network for Trans and Intersex (MANTIS) talked about her experience being a second-generation Transgender person. One of her parents came out as Trans, and she described the light that entered their eyes, with May coming out several years later.

“It’s like looking at a new person with a new lease on life— and I love that,” May said. 

Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck was spotted chalking on her hands and knees with a community member, and did not expect to speak, but was invited up by GEM organizers. 

As bubbles blew in the soft, warm breeze, a child grabbed an easter egg from the white woven basket and slammed it to the ground, with sparkly confetti fluttering about. Gwendolyn from the Labor Militant Party spoke into the microphone about how the Transgender Day of Visibility proclamation, introduced by Councilmember Rinck, was nice, although the work cannot stop there. Gwendolyn said that Trans and working-class people need a renter eviction moratorium urgently. 

Running slightly behind on time due to the chalking festivities, the group took to marching for several blocks before returning to the federal building, with Seattle’s Drag Queen Nemesis helping lead the way. But when they got back, Trans community members and allies watched as cleaners from the Northwest Center, a commercial janitorial company, hosed and brushed off the Trans-focused chalk art.

Organizers were warned about halfway through the event that the feds wanted the chalk to be removed. TtS spoke with a woman from Northwest Center, who we later learned is Trans, who was directed by SPD to remove the chalk, “not because of what it said,” but because of the colors. 

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