“But it was trans women of color,” Ruth continued, her voice softer now, “who threw the first bricks at Stonewall. It was trans folks who held the line during the AIDS crisis when no one else would touch us. We are not just part of the alphabet, mija. We are the spine. The family forgot that for a while. Some still do.”
The evolution of terminology within the LGBTQ sphere has been profoundly shaped by transgender thought leaders. The introduction of (a term coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw) found a natural home in trans activism.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“The way you’re looking at the dance floor like it’s a foreign country,” Ruth said, ordering a whiskey neat. “Happens to all of us at first. You think, ‘I’m finally here, so why do I still feel like a ghost?’”
The terminology within the community is dynamic and prioritizes :