Bianca Taylor [00:02:59] I reported on a self-defense training class that was specifically for gender, queer, gender expansive and trans folks.
Organizer [00:03:06] We have pizza available in the pink room, there’s a vegan option
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:03:10] Bianca Taylor is host and producer of KQED’s The Latest Podcast.
Bianca Taylor [00:03:16] and it was held at the Transgender District, which is both a geographical space sort of in the Tenderloin in San Francisco as well as a non-profit organization founded by and for trans women of color.
Bianca Taylor [00:03:34] The space itself was really beautiful. It was like a big open office space. They basically turned the transgender district into the dojo for the evening. There were about 12 people who came and one instructor, Joseph Bautista.
Joseph Bautista [00:03:49] We’re gonna get into some things today. We’re going to go over verbal de-escalation, situational awareness, and of course the physical.
Bianca Taylor [00:03:56] It was really lively, you know, they did partnered exercises.
Joseph Bautista [00:04:02] Everyone that is facing the windows you are the designated attacker for this round okay all I want you to do right now is slowly with your right hand try to touch the other person’s head
Bianca Taylor [00:04:15] Everything from learning how to like push and punch someone away to like what to do if you’re being choked or like how to stab someone with a ballpoint pen. And then there was also a lot of emphasis put on how to just be aware of your surroundings, how to make sure you’re not an easy target, and then how to verbally de-escalate a situation.
Bianca Taylor [00:04:38] You know, those are really serious, scary scenarios, but the room was buzzing.
Joseph Bautista [00:04:43] Now push the shoulders. Boom, see, it’s safer, right? You’re getting away from this, I know right, no, yeah, yeah.
Participant 1 [00:04:50] I’ll attack you now. Okay, okay.
Participant 2 [00:04:52] That sounds crazy. Yeah.
Bianca Taylor [00:04:54] People came with friends, but people also came solo and through the experience, you know, switched partners so folks were meeting new people. There was an air of excitement.
Joseph Bautista [00:05:05] And time! This is it! This is it! Say thank you to your partner and do-si-do and find a new one!
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:05:14] I know you actually spoke to some people who were participating in the self-defense class. Who did you meet and what did they tell you about why they were taking the class?
Bianca Taylor [00:05:24] One of the folks I met was Alexis Jimenez.
Alexis Jimenez [00:05:27] I’m really interested in learning the techniques to like push away from like people grabbing certain parts of my body, whether it’s like… your neck.
Bianca Taylor [00:05:39] She had a little bit of background in Taekwondo, but she was mostly there because she had had some scary experiences before.
Alexis Jimenez [00:05:49] Though I have had stalkers and reported to police about this before,
Bianca Taylor [00:05:55] And in that moment sort of realized if something came to pass she wasn’t sure she knew what to do to protect herself and so she came to the class to learn additional techniques to kind of build on what she had learned a while ago.
Alexis Jimenez [00:06:12] Thought about scenarios of what could have happened and whether or not I’m prepared to defend myself in those situations. So it’s good that the stars have aligned for me to now kind of get some exposure and learning around this. That’s kind of what motivates me.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:06:32] I mean, it’s, I think, very clear that trans people are under attack right now between President Donald Trump’s several executive orders, anti-trans executive orders and anti-Trans legislation introduced in state houses around the country. How do the people behind the self-defense class talk about why this is so important to do right now, like to hold a self-defense class like this?
Bianca Taylor [00:07:02] Yeah, I think there’s a couple of reasons, you know, there are legal challenges to those executive orders that you spoke about, but the reality for people living, even in a sanctuary city like San Francisco, a trans sanctuary city, people still feel afraid.
Carolina Osoria [00:07:21] The goal of this and other classes is to have people feel empowered.
Bianca Taylor [00:07:26] The training was put on by Carolina Osoria, she’s the program associate, and she told me that this class was really a response to what their community had been feeling after the 2024 election of Donald Trump. She said that community members were feeling very vulnerable.
Carolina Osoria [00:07:46] I feel like this it just feels a little bit worse. The landscape that he’s creating, this landscape is very much rooted in violence.
Bianca Taylor [00:07:56] Carolina said that she wanted the community to feel physically empowered at a time when there were a lot of threats towards trans people.
Carolina Osoria [00:08:05] And through that, if we’re able to help Black trans women, Black trans men, Black trans non-binary folks feel empowered and by giving them the adequate skills that they would need to do so, we’ll be helping all folks.
Bianca Taylor [00:08:23] There was a 2021 study that was done in San Francisco and the Bay Area, and it showed that trans women of color disproportionately bear the brunt of the violent crime committed against trans people. More than half of the physically violent crimes in this report were reported by trans women of color, or specifically Black and Latina trans women. So the reason that that is important in the context of this training is that the training happened in the Tenderloin. and the largest population of trans folk in the Tenderloin are trans women of color.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:08:56] I mean, it is really striking, Bianca, that we’re talking about the fears of trans people right now, and also just, I guess, holding that up against the mood that you paint of the class as this really buzzing and exciting place. I mean it’s super serious stuff, but it seems like people are getting more out of the class than just self-defense. I wonder if you can tell me about the community that’s also being built.
Bianca Taylor [00:09:24] Yeah, I mean, Carolina really stressed that, like, a remedy to fear is being in power with other people, and I think that was very obviously felt.
Moss O’Neal [00:09:33] I’m not really sure what to expect because I haven’t done this before, but I’m excited.
Bianca Taylor [00:09:37] One of the folks I spoke with, his name was Moss O’Neal.
Bianca Taylor [00:09:41] Have you ever done a self-defense training?
Moss O’Neal [00:09:43] I have not, no.
Bianca Taylor [00:09:45] Have you felt like you wished you had?
Moss O’Neal [00:09:47] Yes, yeah, several times, and I think this will be good for me.
Bianca Taylor [00:09:51] He has had moments where he wished he had known how to defend himself, sort of walking around San Francisco. And he also specifically said he came to meet more queer people, to find queer community. After the training was over, there was pizza and drinks and folks stuck around and exchanged phone numbers. And I think that, especially in a time where it can feel scary to wear the clothes you wanna wear, walk down the street, be the person that you know you are. Being in a room with people who are going through the same thing and doing something joyful is very powerful. And I think that in addition to sort of like the physical techniques that folks used and how people learned how to use their voice, you can’t deny that there’s also power just knowing that you’re not alone.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:10:39] Yeah, it seems like trans people and folks from the queer community who attended this training are really looking to feel empowered right now, not afraid.
Bianca Taylor [00:10:48] Yeah, I mean, the word that kept coming up was resilient.
Bianca Taylor [00:10:55] This is not the first time the gender expansive and trans community has been in the crossfire or scapegoated for societal ills, and it probably won’t be the last time. I think the really incredible thing about a place like the Transgender District and this training is that it is so rooted in a history of resistance and resilience in San Francisco and in the Bay Area. And I want to stress that San Francisco is not, it’s not necessarily a safe haven still. There are still real reasons that folks feel afraid. It’s telling and demonstrative of just the era that we’re in that even in a place like San Francisco there’s work to do.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:11:36] Well, Bianca, thank you so much for sharing your reporting with us. I appreciate it.
Bianca Taylor [00:11:40] Thanks, Ericka.
