#Hike4Rights Begins!

Next week, MTPC’s executive director Mason Dunn, along with MaeBright’s Ev Evnen, will embark on a two week journey across the state. Their goal is to raise awareness for trans rights in public spaces like parks and trails.

You can join Mason and Ev at the summit of Mt. Greylock, Massachusetts’ highest peak, on August 25th - either take day hike to the summit with them, or join them at the summit (via bus) for a flag raising and celebration. To sign up for the Greylock meetup visit: https://www.ventureoutproject.com/hike4rightsregistration

For more information about the hike or how you can get involved, visit www.Hike4Rights.org.

Boston Foundation 2018 Out of the Blue Grant

We are so excited to announce that MTPC has been selected as this year’s recipient of the Boston Foundation Out of the Blue grant. This $50,000 prize will allow us to increase our capacity, provide critical resources for community members, and ensure that trans rights are protected and defended across Massachusetts.

We want to thank the entire staff and leadership at the Boston Foundation for this exciting gift, and for their continued support for trans rights. For more information about this exciting grant and the Boston Foundation visit: https://www.tbf.org/news-and-insights/press-releases/2018/july/out-of-the-blue-award

New Leadership on MTPC's Steering Committee

This summer has seen some exciting changes on the MTPC leadership team. First, we’ve added a new member to the MTPC Steering Committee: Alexandra Chandler. Alex comes to Massachusetts from Washington DC, where she was an intelligence analyst. Now that she’s moved home to Haverhill, she is running for Congress in Massachusetts’ 3rd District. Welcome Alexandra!

We are saddened to say goodbye to Bobbi Taylor, who has served as MTPC’s Steering Committee chair for the past year. Bobbi has been a long time leader, volunteer, and speaker with MTPC, and we all wish her the best in her next and exciting move to Budapest! Thank you Bobbi for your service and dedication to trans rights with MTPC.

Looking ahead, we are excited to announce the leadership of  MTPC’s new co-chairs: Michelle Tat and Kaden Mohammed. Both Kaden and Michelle have served on MTPC’s Steering Committee for the past few years, and they are involved across many different parts of the trans and social justice movements. In the coming months you will see more from Michelle and Kaden, as they take the helm at MTPC and explore new ways our organization can grow. Welcome Kaden and Michelle!

Personal Reflections on Pride Month as a ‘Career Queer’

Pride Month is always an interesting time for those who work in LGBT-focused spaces. It can be a joyous time, celebrating our community and the work that we and those who have come before us have done, and watching those to come after us revel in themselves. It can be a revealing time, showing the world around us our gayest, queerest, transest selves, providing safer spaces for coming out, presenting our identities the best we can. It can also be a concerning time as we watch corporations, politicians, law enforcement, and other entities participating in these festivities and parades in ways that can feel performative, co-opting, and down-right out of place. After all, as the saying goes that so many of us have adopted, the first pride was a riot.

For those of us who have dedicated time in our working lives to LGBT, queer, and trans spaces and organizations, Pride can also be stressful and disruptive. From my experience this year with MTPC, as such a small organization with only 1.5 paid employees, the influx of personal requests, ideas, calls for speakers or partnerships, tabling or event opportunities, etc. can be overwhelming. This abundance is incredible in many ways, we are so excited that you are excited to work with us, that you want to share our mission and partner with us in our goals! It is an incredible honor to be so in demand. We are willing to overextend ourselves because we are dedicated to creating the best possible world for our community. It is all worth it because of the wonderful humans we get to meet and interact with at these events and the change that we are able to see made in lives and families and communities. The empowerment that comes from this celebration of queer and trans identities and lives is truly a marvel. I hope that we can keep this as the center of Pride celebrations as our community continues to grow and find these public spaces, that we consider what Pride is truly about and who it is for.

Finally, I’d like to ask for something in return this year from our allies, especially from our cisgender heterosexual allies. We need you to vote YES ON 3 on November 6th, 2018. We need you to vote for candidates in local, regional, state, and federal elections that will fight for trans rights throughout their tenure. We need you to not be quiet when trans lives are under attack, whether in the public spaces that we are currently fighting to keep protections for, or on much larger scales with health care disparity, income and employment disparity, or the simple ability to have identity documents that correspond to one’s gender identity. We may be able to achieve legal equality for trans and gender non-conforming people in Massachusetts within the next few years, but we must always continue to fight for lived equality, particularly for trans people of color. We can never rest on our laurels, as we have seen with the ballot initiative this year. With that said, start shouting YES ON 3 and don’t stop until we’ve said that we will not back down and we keep these protections in place.

TRANS RIGHTS NOW!