By: Al Ballesteros
St. John’s Community Health celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their Transgender Health Program in an event titled TransNation: A Decade of Legacy. Held on March 24th at the Double Tree in Downtown Los Angeles, the Gala was a true community celebration and even hosted free of charge. There was a packed crowd in the main stage area and an overflow crowd in the lobby where big screens allowed even more community members and supporters to participate in the event.
The Emcee was community Pioneer Queen Chela Demuir. Performers included Jazzmun, Teyana Trendz, Ryan Cassata, Trans Chorus of Los Angeles and Neverending Nina.
The event also recognized community leaders and activists for their work on behalf of the Transgender community. Supervisor Holly Mitchell, Member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the Second District, Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo and Luckie Fuller of Invisible Men were honorees.
Supervisor Holly Mitchell said “Long before I was an elected official, I was a health advocate for most of my career. 30 years ago when I was leading the California Black Women’s Health Project and my sisters came and said ‘we are dying, we are being murdered in South Central and we have no safe space to access health care services,’ the Black Women’s Health Project then knew that we needed to open ourselves up to be fighters for Black Trans Women. Please know that I am clear that when one of us is at risk, we are all at risk. When one of us is not seen, serviced or supported, we are all not seen, serviced or supported.”
Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo commended St. John’s for stepping up during the Covid-19 pandemic and providing more than 500,000 vaccines to the community of Los Angeles County and noting that this work saved lives and prevented illness. Carrillo thanked the Trans Community on its 10 years of work and said “when you come from marginalized communities which have often been disenfranchised for so long it is easy to feel like you are alone in this space. I want to take a moment to congratulate you on how far we have come as a community. Thank you for everything you do. I was reading that 12 states have introduced legislation that would outlaw Transgender Health Care. We are NOT doing that in the State of California, we are doing the exact opposite, providing health care and resources and saying we see you, we love you, we are here for you no matter what anyone else says.”
On his Facebook page, Luckie Fuller said “on behalf of ITM, Thank you to St John’s Trans Health Program for this beautiful Innovator’s award! Thank to the Legacys that came out and celebrated this. It was incredible. Huge love and shout out to ALL 65 of our Legacy family siblings, it is because of your strength to visibly stand in your authenticity and share a part of yourself to be a reflection for others, that we are able to make the impact we do. Thanks for being part of my Village..”
Jim Mangia, the CEO of St. John’s Community Health called attention to the increasing national anti-Trans actions happening across the country. “State after state is on the attack against our civil rights. Nothing is more hateful and evil then denying Trans individuals one of the most basic necessities of life, access to healthcare. 12 states have enacted laws restricting access to healthcare for Trans youth and Trans adults. Florida, Tenessee and Oklahoma have outlawed Medicaid from paying for Trans Healthcare Services and a Federal judge in Florida, just last week upheld Florida’s right to deny health coverage to Trans people.”
Mangia told the crowd that “everytime we let them chauk up another victory, another victory for hate, everytime we don’t fight back with all of the furry and determination it requires, they’re emboldened and they plot their next move.” “Now a leader of a mainstream conservative political action committee openly said Transgenderism must be eliminated, and not one Republican condemed those remarks…. That is what the Nazis said about the Jews, it is the exact same language, make no mistake. I’m not trying to bring us down, we are going to have a wonderful time tonight and we are going to continue serving the Trans community with the love it deserves, and we are going to continue to confront hate with love,” said Mangia.
Mangia and the group called for national organization and a coordinated strategy to fight these attacks on the Trans community in every state house and court house in America. To that end, the group has launched the Trans Health Coalition and ask supporters to Take a Stand to Support Healthcare for All. To do this, individuals are asked to sign up via a newly created web-portal for this purpose. You can support the Trans community by scanning the QR code on the flyer at the upper right of this article and joining the Coalition.
Congratulations to St. John’s and their Transgender Health Program on 10 years of its important progam and community work.