Trans Town Hall Returns for Trans Pride LA’s 25th Anniversary With Gottmik, Love Bailey, and More
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TALENT IMAGES HERE
EVENT IMAGES HERE
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LOS ANGELES, June 17 — Over the weekend, the Los Angeles LGBT Center hosted the 25th anniversary celebration of Trans Pride LA (TPLA), including the return of the Trans Town Hall to the Renberg Theatre, featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars (Season 9) contestant Gottmik, artist and activist Love Bailey, and renowned photographer Texas Isaiah. Over 1,500 Angelenos attended the two-day celebration.
The Trans Town Hall was hosted by Sydney Rogers, a.k.a Miss Barbie-Q, program manager of the Center’s Transgender Economic Empowerment Project (TEEP). Love Bailey, who successfully advocated against anti-LGBTQ+ policies in Temecula, CA, was presented with the Community Hero Award. Texas Isaiah, celebrated for his intimate portraits of Black and transgender people, was honored with the Visionary Award.
Later, Gottmik sat down with journalist and podcaster Tre’vell Anderson for the evening’s keynote conversation. Below are highlights from the stage program for consideration.
Gottmik on the top surgery look from RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars:
“I think I just did it in a really beautiful and refined way, so it freaks conservatives out because it’s so gorgeous. You can’t deny that. They’re freaking out like, What are you doing to our children?! It’s too beautiful! And, baby, it is beautiful, and your children are just fine knowing that they can do whatever the fuck they want to do with their bodies.”
Gottmik on his hopes for the transgender community:
“I think trans people are the most magical people in the world. I think we literally, from day one, fight just to be us—just to start from ground zero, basically. Trans people are forced to grow up really fast. And learn life lessons really fast. So we end up being the dopest people in the room. Trans people should be the leaders of everything, if you ask me.
Gottmik’s advice for TGI youth:
“There’s a bunch of trans kids out there who are looking to us to be strong and to fight this fight … to pave the way for them. I find strength in that, and I just hope everyone out there who listens to me and sees my art feels that same energy of being able to stand up for just being us. It’s really powerful to just walk into a room and be like, ‘Hey, I’m trans and I am not going anywhere. Get into it or get lost.’”
Love Bailey on her activism in conservative Temecula:
“Nina Simone said it best: Artists’ duties are to reflect the times. If we’re given this privilege and this platform and we don’t advocate for change against the oppressor, What are you doing with your life? What are you doing with your existence?”
“There’s a lot of hatred towards our community. [But] it really is a call to action to find your inner strength, to find your inner goddess. It’s a daily struggle. But we have found our community. We have found our chosen family, and we feel empowered taking up space in a Republican town.”
Texas Isaiah on photographing trans people:
“Photography—although historically it has been a tool of violence—I think that it is also a space for us to curate self-actualization within our beauty and within how we exist in the everyday. Because we are the first ones to wake up to ourselves, and I’m a firm believer that the most important person to tell oneself that they are beautiful has to be you.”
In addition to the Trans Town Hall, this year’s TPLA celebrations included a welcome mixer; a line-dancing lesson by Stud Country instructors; and the Saturday’s Trans Pride Festival, featuring 40+ market vendors, portrait studio by photographer Devyn Galindo, a Trans Pride Talent Showcase, and more.
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About the Los Angeles LGBT CenterSince 1969 the Los Angeles LGBT Center has cared for, championed, and celebrated LGBT individuals and families in Los Angeles and beyond. Today the Center’s nearly 800 employees provide services for more LGBT people than any other organization in the world, offering programs, services, and global advocacy that span four broad categories: Health, Social Services and Housing, Culture and Education, Leadership and Advocacy. We are an unstoppable force in the fight against bigotry and the struggle to build a better world; a world in which LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Learn more at lalgbtcenter.org.