Post submitted by Sissi Yado, HRC Organizer, Texas Field Team

This weekend, HRC, the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), Equality Texas and community organizers came together at the Aquí Estamos Conference for Queer People of Color living along the Mexico-Texas border. Kicking off the third year of Aqui Estamos, I had the privilege of joining HRC San Antonio Volunteer Engagement Member Emmett Schelling and Aamori Olujimi, Metropolitan Health District HIV Outreach Committee, on a panel to discuss the intersections of allyship with our lived experiences as trans, gender non-conforming and queer people of color.

Aqui Estamos organizers encouraged participants to share space, knowledge and resources by addressing the uncertainties queer people of color face. It was a particularly hard year for queer people of color living on the border pushing back on the Trump administration’s attempts to undermine the rights of LGBTQ people, the border wall, and the harmful wave of anti-trans legislation, especially in Texas.

During the Texas legislative session, HRC teamed up with TENT, Equality Texas, Aquí Estamos and more than 40 advocacy organizations to move more than 50,000 Texans in talking action to stop anti-lgbtq and discriminatory legislation.

Photos courtesy of Aqui Estamos.

Here are just a few of the resources we shared:
The Gender Unicorn by TSER
The Racism Scale by C. Demnowicz