5 Wishes For Texas On Transgender Day Of Visibility
For Transgender Day of Visibility 2022, we took a moment to check in with some of Future Front’s creative collaborators in Austin, Texas.
From musicians to writers to entrepreneurs, each of these creators have used their work to loudly and proudly show up themselves and trans folks in their communities.
Here are their five wishes for the future of Texas:
No. 1 — Ezra Edwards, DJ & Event Producer
Ezra (he/him) has been working as a DJ and an event producer in Austin, Texas since 2010. Currently, he spins under the monikers DJ Boyfriend and DJ Boi Orbison. Born and raised in Austin, he’s won the Austin Chronicle's Best DJ of Austin in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
No. 2 — La Morena, DJ & Hair Stylist
La Morena (she/her) makes her audience travel through a series of vibes in her eclectic DJ sets. Originally from Brownsville Texas, La Morena uses her heritage and personal experiences to educate her sets, always delivering a special mix between Cumbia, reggaetón, house, Latin hits and hip hop.
No. 3 — Eli and Ally, Entrepreneurs
Eli (he/him) and Ally (she/her) are the founders of Rise Market. Rise Market is a Queer-Trans POC and Woman Owned social commerce platform championing LGBTQIA2+ creators, entrepreneurs and advocates.
No. 4 — KB, Poet & Cultural Worker
KB Brookins (also known as KB) is a Black/queer/transmasculine poet, essayist, and cultural worker from Stop Six, Fort Worth, Texas. Their poems are published in American Poetry Review, Poetry Northwest, and elsewhere; their essays are published in Huffington Post, Teen Vogue, and other venues. KB is the author of How To Identify Yourself with a Wound (Kallisto Gaia Press, 2022), a chapbook selected by ire’ne laura silva as winner of the Saguaro Poetry Prize. They have received Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominations, along with fellowships from PEN America, Lambda Literary, and The Watering Hole among others.
KB’s cultural work spans six years. In that time, they founded and led two nonprofits (Interfaces and Embrace Austin). They have also contributed to many initiatives, such as Austin’s first LGBTQIA+ quality of life survey, inclusion of chosen names on the University of Texas at Austin diplomas, and serving as Project Lead for the Winter Storm Project.
KB’s debut full-length poetry collection, Freedom House (Deep Vellum Publishing, 2023) is forthcoming. Currently, they are an Artivism Fellow with Broadway Advocacy Coalition. KB is represented by Annie DeWitt at The Shipman Agency. They live in Austin, TX, where they are working on projects and trying their best. Follow them online at @earthtokb, and subscribe to their sporadic opinions/updates through Out of This World.
No. 5 — p1nkstar, Musician & Nightlife Curator
p1nkstar (she/her) creates a world far removed from this dimension's binaries through music and conceptual shows, merging hyperpop with neo-perreo and club. She has been described as “early Aughts Paris Hilton on Hello Kitty steroids” by The Austin Chronicle, who crowned her as their Pop Princess in 2020. Since 2016, p1nkstar has rapidly become an emblematic figure in the Texas arts and nightlife scenes by opening inclusive spaces that center the work of trans and queer artists. p1nkstar has received three Best of Austin awards for her space-making work in the city and most recently, became the first openly-trans person to receive an Austin Music Award in 2022.
What is Transgender Day of Visibility?
Celebrated globally, International Transgender Day of Visibility (also called TDOV, Transgender Day of Visibility) is an annual event occurring on March 31 dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, as well as a celebration of their contributions to society.