Christian A’xavier Lovehall used to attend GALAEI’s annual Philly Black Trans History event each year.
“When I used to go, it was a very affirming experience for me and I wanted to bring that back so other people can experience that celebration, community and affirmation,” said Lovehall, who serves as GALAEI’s Transhealth Information Project (TIP) co-coordinator and the Trans Masculine Advocacy Network (TMAN) facilitator.
The event has been absent from GALAEI’s programming since Sheila Colson-Pope, GALAEI’s former TIP coordinator and founder of the event, stepped down from her position seven years ago. However, Lovehall decided to bring back the event on Feb. 26 at William Way LGBT Community Center, with coordination from TIP and TMAN.
“We need to be celebrated more as trans people,” Lovehall said about resurrecting the event.
“A lot of times when Black History Month is discussed, it’s very heterosexual, very cisgender and the contributions of LGBTQ people are overlooked or ignored,” Lovehall said. “This is to bring light to trans people in our city who made history, who are presently making history.”
Aamina Morrison, TIP’s co-coordinator, said the panelists will bring a mixture of different backgrounds, through which they will share stories of trauma as well as “triumph and courage.”
Panelists for the event include Colson-Pope and other members of the city’s transgender community, such as William H. Coghill, Sharron L. Cooks, Alex Covington, Hazel Edwards and Tenika Watson.
“When they come to this panel, they can walk away knowing a little bit more than what they thought they did and it will encourage them to engage with more trans people of color,” Morrison said about the audience.
Morrison said it’s important to create spaces for the transgender community to share experiences because “that’s how we keep our communities alive.”
“[We have to] make sure we continue to speak to one another even when other communities have forgotten us or have cast us aside because we don’t fit a societal norm or if we don’t fit a gender norm.”
Morrison hopes for Philly Black Trans History to become an annual event.
“Hopefully, this is something that can be ongoing so we can constantly get more and more people from our community a space to share their experiences, share their contributions and the change that they created in their community.”
Philly Black Trans History: A Multigenerational Panel Discussion will take place 6 p.m. Feb. 26 at William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St.