[upbeat music]
[in Spanish] Trans women over 50 years old
are a legacy for our movement.
[soft music]
[in Spanish] Many of the women I admire and respect are no longer here.
And I want to pay tribute, I want to honor them, I want to tell them thank you for existing,
and I hope to have the opportunity to make it to 50 years old, as well.
Today we are celebrating our Trans Mother's Day.
Tonight we're gonna crown a Miss Trans Elite that has
left a legacy for all of us trans women over 40.
Yes baby,
that means that we're old bitches, but we're still here.
It is a celebration of all the trans women
in our community that have made it to 50 years and older.
Having fun events is just a lot more important
than people realize.
A lot of times in the trans community,
we forget that we can be happy.
[soft music]
[in Spanish] I am Anandrea Molina,
and I am the director and founder of the Organización Latina Trans in Texas.
OLTT is a resource center for people who, like me, immigrated
to this country without any type of opportunities.
And today, for today, we fight against systems that oppress us
and, and seek a better quality of life in community and fraternity, in family and in power.
Ladies and gentlemen, she is Miss Trans OLTT Elite.
The reigning queen will be stepping down,
and the new girls will be stepping in.
[in Spanish] We offer housing, right, for those communities or populations
that are more vulnerable.
And we get very involved in criminal liberation.
I provide immigration legal services
to many of OLTT's members.
I've also come out as a transgender non-binary person,
and with that comes an understanding of what it means
to fight for existence, to fight for rights
every single day.
I don’t think that the U.S. has done enough to keep trans people safe.
I think that these spaces are so incredibly important
because if young people are taught from a young age
that they're allowed to take up space,
that they're allowed to be who they are,
that they're allowed to explore who they are,
then we can avoid so much violence,
which means we can avoid so many other harms.
[in Spanish] I’m going to ask
Mr. Trans OLTT, Daron Yanes, to join us in front.
I came from Cuba at a young age. And I really didn't have
anybody that could understand me and, like, I could talk to
until I got here and I was, like, with my people.
And I was like, yeah, I know I can tell them about this
because they'll understand.
[in Spanish] Applause for Jareth.
Applause for Jareth. Applause.
I think that, that it’s the, the only trans organization that has a shelter
and welcomes and protects the rights of immigrants and trans immigrants.
OLTT is unique in the way that it serves not only
the Hispanic queer community, but also does not shame anyone
for being a migrant.
You're a person first.
You're a queer person first.
[in Spanish] The trans Latina migrant community
in the city of Houston and in the state of Texas,
we were invisible. Before, the projects and programs of many agencies, organizations,
and local community centers didn’t take us into account.
There were no services for Latino migrants.
Everything was in English or only for white people.
And so we began this journey of how to create an inclusive
and culturally reflective space for the people we love.
[in Spanish] I think that,
that the social support that it gives to the community,
and that security of being under a roof that’s protected, and that they feel safe is very important.
Your trans identity is always on your mind.
But when you're in a space where it's mostly comprised
of trans people, you forget. You just feel like yourself.
[in Spanish] For our friend Lucia Rodriguez,
who today is our Miss Trans Elite.
Let's go!
Yes.
You forget that you're actually different
than a lot of other people, and that's just very nice,
you know.
[in Spanish] To our friend, Barby Ledesma,
our Miss Trans Elite.
Joy is an important part of our activism, and so I hope
that we can get to a place where these spaces aren't just
about how do we survive, but more so about how do we thrive?
[soft music]
I work with my community personally
because it's what saved my life.
When I was younger,
I did not even know what a trans person was.
Had I had the resource,
I would have started my transition in my teenage years,
instead of waiting for my mid-20s to finally accept who I was.
OLTT helped me accept it and express it
to the world and find a purpose to really fight for.
[in Spanish] There’s nothing bigger than visibility
through our existence, our voices, our presence—that we are here, right?
We live in a state that, that is constantly attacking us,
but we’re not going to disappear. We’re not going to be invisible.
We have been discriminated against, humiliated,
but they forgot that we are seeds and that we are going to be reborn.
Thank you.
[upbeat music]