TransPride in the Park Breaks Attendance Record
(Julia Music, Aug. 16, 2014)
Transgender Pride in the Park on Aug. 9 at Geary Park in Ferndale was met with perfect weather and record attendance. As I have every year since Trans Pride moved to Ferndale I was met with smiling, welcoming faces but this year there were a lot more smiling faces to meet. Topping out at close to 200 participants at the event, it’s evident that more people are comfortable coming out to celebrate this occasion.
I was able to meet lots of new people and was surprised to learn that people came as far as Port Huron, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids to attend the only trans-focused pride in the state of Michigan. As conversations unfolded throughout the day reoccurring themes were apparent. Trans visibility has dramatically increased and the need for trans education is still desperate. There is also a need for people within the trans* community to connect with others who are in similar situations to them.
One activist Seth of Youtube’s SethExM said, “We know people have questions. We need speaker’s bureaus where people can ask questions, learn, and see us as human beings. We need people to learn from those of us who are in a safe place in our lives to answer questions. We also need to educate people so they don’t walk up to every trans person they see and start asking questions that are inappropriate.”
Another attendee, Connor, mentioned that he faced severe discrimination in high school. He was told that if he wanted to walk at graduation he had to shave his legs, where a dress and high heals. He said, “I didn’t know about the resources available to help me back then. I hope we can get more people educated on what it’s like to be trans so that others don’t face discrimination on their own. We also need to help educate school officials that might not understand trans issues.”
Transgender Michigan has been putting on Pride in the Park since 1997. If you want to gain more information about Transgender Michigan click on http://www.transgendermichigan.org/ or find them on FB at TGMichigan.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: As a founding member of Ferndale Pride and the founder of Ferndale Adoption Network, Julia Music has taken an active roll in community organizing with in the city of Ferndale. She has taught middle school for more than a decade in the West Bloomfield School District. She has one son that she loves more than anyone else in the world and credits him for motivating her to make the world a better place to live right here in Oakland County.