On Pride And Community-Care In Texas: Black Trans Leadership of Austin
This summer, in light of our own rebirth, we’re catching up with Future Front Texas members and friends to explore vision.
Today, we’re chatting with one of our grantees for June 2021, Black Trans Leadership of Austin. BTLA will receive $1000 from proceeds collected at this summer’s Swim Sessions.
Keep reading to learn about their goals, what supporting QTBIPOC communities in Texas looks like and the year-round energy of PRIDE Month.
Photo courtesy of BTLA
ABOUT BTLA:
Black Trans Leadership of Austin exists to create better outcomes for Black Trans and Gender Diverse people in Austin. The organization was founded July 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic, by members of the Black queer and trans community.
BTLA has identified systemic and economic issues affecting QTBIPOC communities across central Texas and works to give care, reparations, and support to our community through direct aid and community connection.
Tell us a little bit about BTLA and the work that you do.
Our mission is to create better outcomes for the lives of Black Trans people in Austin and Central Texas. Together, we are pushing for community centers, where we can connect and be in fellowship, actual affordable housing, safety in the cities we live in and the luxury of leisure—to celebrate our talents, skills, and culture.
In just the past few months, BTLA has already been able to host community cookouts and food drives to get our people fed, release $1,000 grants to over 20 community members in crisis with funds that were directly reallocated from Austin Police Department through Reimagining Public Safety initiatives.
We’ve also created the ‘Black Trans Leadership Austin Community Questionnaire for the Advancement of QTBIPOC in Central Texas,’ a survey that will help us collect data concerning our communities needs, so that we can build a more accurate snapshot of where the system has failed Black Trans people, and get our needs met—because we believe data should not be a barrier.
What's your vision for the Black queer and trans community in Austin?
We want to build a closer knit community. Trans people are usually forced to lean on each other, just to make it through hardship, but imagine what we could do if we had easier access to the resources we needed to thrive—our movement would be expansive and radical.
BTLA wants to not only bring more Black trans leaders to the surface in our city but also support Black trans in having the freedom to thrive as ourselves. We visualize not only safer spaces that we can live and succeed in, but also places that we aren't expected to be in. We want to shake up the image and idea of what leadership is expected to look and act like to something a lot more colorful and diverse.
What does PRIDE mean to you in 2021?
Pride, for us, means supporting Black trans and queer folks voices. It also means remembering our past and not letting our trans ancestors and their work be forgotten.
Pride is more like an annual call-out and protest to a system that purposefully forgets us.
While this can be a time to celebrate our unique identities, it should also be said that this is a time for us to really continue to be vocal and advocate for our needs to the cis-straight community.
How can we continue to support BTLA (and the QTBIPOC community at large)?
By recognizing that you can contribute by investing your time and skills to those who are regularly marginalized. Take whatever it is you are good at and offer it to organizations like BTLA. We are big believers in mutual aid and resource-sharing to achieve true equity. The steps can also be as small as using more trans inclusive language at home and work, normalizing and correcting anti-trans sentiments in your personal network.
Being in a state that almost passed an unprecedented amount of violent anti-trans legislation and where Black folks continue to be mistreated, we encourage everyone to actively dispelling anti-Black and anti-trans behavior and language in your personal networks and beyond.
What's next for BTLA? How do you hope to grow your programs?
We definitely look forward to participating in more in-person events and gatherings. Being able to see one another and bringing more Black trans people into the fold is such an important part of our vision for the future. Our primary focus is direct assistance to Black trans folks.
From basic needs assistance in the realms of access to everyday essentials, jobs, housing and healthcare to a shoulder to lean on and someone to encourage them to keep going, we want to be there with them every step of the way. We are always working to build the capacity for our small, overworked team to do so.
Honestly, we need the support of the entire community to keep doing the work we are doing. Donations do go a long way—we are able to redistribute that into our community, but we also want to imagine beyond simply throwing money at a really huge issue. Donated time and skill, community collaboration and true allyship will help build programs that will continue to help our community.
Want to stay involved with Future Front Texas?
Keep up with what we’re up to—from virtual events to membership—here.