Trans Folks to Share Survival Skills in the Tenderloin for Trans Day of Visibility

While the Bay Area’s LGBTQ+ community puts on plenty of dance parties and drag shows, this year’s Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) calls for something different, says poet Zander Moreno. He’s part of a group of activists behind a D.I.Y. event in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood on March 30 called TDOV Trans Fest, where trans folks will teach workshops centered on safety training and tangible skills.

“We wanted to materially benefit transgender people instead of just giving them an event or some performances,” says Moreno. “Of course, that can be powerful, too. But I think with the things that are happening now, what’s most important is to have trans people feel safe in their communities and know that there are transgender groups that are truly looking to build a movement against the things that are happening in the White House.”

Indeed, President Trump issued an executive order stating that the federal government only recognizes two sexes, male and female; this and other state laws have created hurdles for trans people when it comes to their identity documents, impacting the ability to travel, receive medical care and even vote. Over 800 anti-trans bills have been introduced in state legislatures this year alone. Moreno sees parallels to 1930s Germany, where Nazis burned the library of Berlin’s Institute for Sexual Science, an early hub for gender-affirming healthcare.

That’s why Trans Fest will include legal support, know-your-rights workshops, a teach-in on digital security and a self-defense class. To help people connect, there’ll be a “speed-friending” session. And to keep the vibes high, Tlahuizpapalotl of Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits will open the event with an Indigenous prayer. The fest also features a poetry reading, zines, stencil-making and a DJ set to close.

Trans Fest will take place on the corner of Turk and Taylor streets, the former site of Compton’s Cafeteria, a restaurant where trans people rioted against police brutality in 1966 — three years before a similar event at New York’s Stonewall Inn kicked off the modern-day gay rights movement. (A collective called Turk x Taylor Initiative, which is helping promote Trans Fest, is organizing to “liberate” the former Compton’s site, which currently houses a halfway house owned by a private prison company.)

Trans Day of Visibility emerged 15 years ago to combat negative media stereotypes and raise awareness about the disproportionate rates of criminalization, poverty and homelessness that trans people face. But many advocates have pointed out that visibility doesn’t equal safety.

“We are overly visible in the sense that we are being targeted,” says Moreno. “And usually when you’re being targeted, it’s not a good thing to be visible. And so for us and the group, we wanted to have this very clear messaging of not visibility, but vitality.”

For him, vitality means affirming that trans people are an essential part of any community. “Historically, in pre-colonial times, were considered healers, were considered shamans, were considered curanderos,” Moreno says. “Now, we’re being erased. … And so through that vitality, we’re telling transgender people that they are vital to each other’s lives.”

TDOV Trans Fest takes place on the corner of Turk and Taylor streets in San Francisco on March 30, 3–5 p.m. Free. Full schedule of events here.