Brave Space Alliance (BSA) hosted a rally in Federal Plaza on March 31 to mark the Transgender Day of Visibility and to honor the lives of Black trans women who've been killed in the city recently.
"I'd like to acknowledge that Trans Day of Visibility is supposed to be a day of celebration," said BSA Director of Communications Jae Rice. "We usually reserve Trans Day of Remembrance for collective mourning, but when two Black trans women are found dead in the Chicagoland area in the matter of a week, there is nothing to celebrate."
Speakers from BSA and Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL) explained the ways city government has failed to adequately support the Black trans community. The groups gave government officials an "F" on a report card that detailed how officials fell short in protecting trans people and funding resources for the community, among other things.
"[BSA] is a nonprofit organization doing the work in this city on a budget that is less that 0.01% of what the city spends on the police alone," said BSA Associate Executive Director Stephanie Skora. "We cannot sustain the lives of an entire community on our backs, but we have to try everyday anyway because the city fails us every day. So we are out here to fail them right back."
The speakers urged people to donate to BSA and Black trans people and to be more than quiet allies. Kina Collins, who is running for U.S. Congress (1st District), told the crowd to act as "co-conspirators" in the fight for trans rights.
There wasn't any sign of Ex-Cons For Community & Social Change at the rally. On March 28, the organization interrupted a similar event that took place at Daley Plaza, resulting in the early termination of a press conference.