“The voice of protest was again heard at Nubian Square Saturday, but this time another group was joining the call for justice,” begins a report by Boston’s WBZ TV-4 on Saturday’s Transgender Resistance Vigil + March. “The local transgender community filled the streets, marching from Franklin Park to Nubian Square. The long line ended at the local police station.”
WBZ’s report estimated the crowd in the thousands, and among those thousands of supporters were LGBTQA people represented by all stripes of the rainbow flag who came out to stand and march with their transgender and gender-nonconforming friends and neighbors — and especially to call for social justice for Black and brown transgender and gender-nonconforming people, and justice for hate crimes committed against them.
“After today we will no longer be silent,” the article quote’s vigil organizer Athena Vaughn telling the crowd. “The chains that they tried to put on us are broken, and we’re no longer being shackled. We will not be held down. We will fight back.”
Along with Vaughn, operations director of the Massachusetts Trans Political Coalition and president of the New England Ball Collective, the vigil and march were organized by the Transgender Emergency Fund, the Massachusetts organization dedicated to supporting low income and homeless Transgender individuals in the Bay State.
Reports WBZ:
Saturday’s event was seemingly inspired by the recent climate of protest in the nation and the variety of voices being heard.
Demonstrator Megan Anderson said the time is right for protest. “We are standing here together in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and our black transgender brothers and sisters. … We have a monster in the White House right now who is trying to erase transgender women.”
All of this took place on the day that the Boston Pride Parade would have been held. It was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One marcher who simply identified herself as “Lana” put the day in perspective. “I think people are realizing its time for a change. That’s all I know. It’s definitely time for a change. … Today was very powerful and meaningful, especially for this community. As somebody who’s grown up here, this is an extremely important day.”
The event was peaceful but organizers say it showed just how powerful the movement is.
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