Every year, people and organizations around the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week from November 13th – 19th. The campaign aims to help increase understanding about transgender people and the issues members of the community face.
In honor of Transgender Awareness Week, GLAAD and Gilead Sciences hosted a panel discussion about Driving Trans Health, Policy and Allyship from the Ground Up. Moderated by actress, author and television personality Dominique Jackson, the panel featured a powerful conversation with Elia Chino, founder and Executive Director of Fundación Latinoamericana de Accion Social and Regina Livingston, founder and CEO of Unspoken Treasure Society.
Their discussion highlights the current reality for the transgender community, the importance of community-driven efforts to break down barriers to care and how individuals can be better allies.
“I’m excited to be sitting down for a conversation that is more important than ever,” Jackson starts off by saying. She explained that they will talk “about the current realities for the transgender community.” She introduced the panelists and said that, “Both are prolific advocates who have contributed huge strides for the transgender communities in their states.”
The mission of Regina Livingston’s non-profit Unspoken Treasure Society, is to find solutions to the ever-growing needs of the Transgender community and to ensure every gender-non-conforming marginalized voice is equally understood, specifically in Florida. Livingston shared that the most important thing right now for trans people “is to uplift and just be there for one another.” She continued, “That’s the best thing we can do, especially right now with the climate. Just be each other’s joy. Creating spaces for us, by us.”
Elia Chino, whose organization FLAS, offers culturally affirming, high-quality, and caring service to promote healthy Latino communities in the Greater Houston Area, said that, “I’ve been very blessed to be able to establish and open roads, open doors, so we can be able to not only save lives but also to empower the lives of the transgender community.”
Chino adds, “I’m very proud through my leadership and on a national level, I’ve been able to open minds and also encourage other trans Latinas to do the same work that I’ve been doing for so many years; to advocate for their own communities.” She said, “I really feel like we have a lot of work to do and that we must work together and fight together for our rights.”
Chino and her team’s work have created real change in the Greater Houston community, from providing community based health services to those in need, empowering youth through workshops, offering support groups for people living with HIV, their Tenant-Based Rental Assistance program, access to legal services, and providing access to a food bank for people living with HIV or cancer.
Chino works with a lot of trans people who do not have documentation in the United States. She says the most important thing for them right now is to have a lawyer. She works with those in need to help them start this process with legal representation. And for the LGBTQ community, specifically trans people of color, the most important thing right now is ensuring they have housing. “Everybody is suffering right now,” she said. And that’s why she is here to help.
She said that when a client comes into their office, “They’re not just another number, we receive our clients in the reception with a hug.” Adding that, “We have to treat the transgender community with love and compassion because they are the most marginalized community in the world. And as an executive director, I want to be sure that everybody is treated with dignity and respect and provide services with empathy.”
Livingston later shared that through her organization, “We reach spaces intentionally.” She explained that, “You have to be intentional about the work you do. It has to be something that is pure from the heart.”
Livingston explained how through her organization, they work hands on in communities with people who are struggling, whether that’s checking trans victims of violence into a hotel, providing HIV testing and other healthcare services, offering legal and mental health services, or providing educational opportunities to members of the community, her organization is a safe space. She said that for her, the work is about “Being in spaces and places where you wouldn’t normally find anyone trying to help people, trying to educate people, or trying to be there for people… We can reach the actual people.”
Livingston added that in the wake of the 2024 election and the rise of anti-LGBTQ legislation, “I am gearing up to protect my people.” She shared that her organization is preparing to help people flee Florida if necessary with their “Floridians Community Trust.” “We are just basically trying to come up with resources as we find out specifically what is going to be going on.” She emphasized the importance on staying educated on the facts.
Livingston then said, “We’ve been here for a long time, while evil has been going on in the world against our community. I feel like if we are prepared, we can overcome anything that’s against us, like we always have.”
When talking about celebrating trans joy, Chino said that, “My joy is just to be able to help those in need. That’s what makes my joy. To think that I’m here for a purpose.”
Learn more about Transgender Awareness Week here and keep up with Regina Livingston and Elia Chino’s work at www.unspokensociety.org and flasinc.org.