{"id":54240,"date":"2017-02-25T10:32:30","date_gmt":"2017-02-25T16:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=54240"},"modified":"2017-03-07T14:32:06","modified_gmt":"2017-03-07T20:32:06","slug":"hundreds-gather-in-lakeview-to-protest-for-transgender-rights-amidst-criticism-over-transgender-representation-racial-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hundreds-gather-in-lakeview-to-protest-for-transgender-rights-amidst-criticism-over-transgender-representation-racial-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakeview trans protest draws criticism over representation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Haley Velasco<\/strong><\/p>\n

To protect transgender rights, hundreds of people protested in Lakeview on February 25. Protesters gathered in the 7-Eleven parking lot at 3407 N. Halsted St. The event featured speakers, including LGBT activists and local politicians, before marching down North Halsted Street in protest. Despite the few hundred that showed, many chose to stay away, citing a lack of transgender individuals organizing the event, as well as a general lack of trust in the Boystown community, especially from minority transgender people.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI saw that the march was happening, but I didn\u2019t see [any] trans organizers,\u201d said LaSaia Wade, an Afro-Indigenous Latinx trans woman and organizer. \u201cIt was cis, white-led and I made a fuss. That\u2019s just me, that\u2019s what I do. I asked where are the trans organizers? \u2026 More trans people came in and we started to make a bigger fuss. They started adding more trans people in at the last minute to organize and help organize with the march but we didn\u2019t have a representation of trans people in this particular march.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protestors at the event, titled Stand Up for Transgender Rights: Chicago on Facebook<\/a>, carried a plethora of signs, some which read \u201cTrans Rights Are Human Rights\u201d or \u201cIt was never about bathrooms. Just like it was never like water fountains.\u201d The event featured speakers from LGBT organizations, such as the Center on Halsted and Equality Illinois, who criticized President Donald Trump, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and Attorney General Jeff Sessions for rescinding the federal directive, as well as calling for equality and protection for the transgender community.<\/p>\n

We reported live from the event on Snapchat; you can view the video below.
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