Stand with Trans, founded in 2015 by Roz Keith, is a nonprofit based in Farmington, Michigan helping trans youth “build resilience, gain confidence and find hope for a future filled with joy.”
Keith launched the organization when she was in search of resources for her own child who, in 2013, came out as transgender.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual programming with a blend of in-person programming has helped to maximize their reach and potential as an organization. As a result, the group has expanded accessibility to be a global force for transgender empowerment and erase stigma surrounding trans identities, all while equipping and supporting families of all backgrounds, shapes and sizes. Each year, Keith and her staff pick a new theme for Transgender Week of Empowerment. This year the conference’s 2024 theme is “Beyond the Binary.”
This theme introduces important topics from autonomy in healthcare, Democracy, reproductive health, parenting, substance use, sports, sibling, parent, and grandparent ally panels, media representation talks and so much more.
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“I have loved being in touch with so many folks from the trans community and our allies while putting the programming together. Everyone I’ve spoken with is excited and motivated to support trans and nonbinary youth,” Dubbs Weinblatt, Transgender Empowerment Month program coordinator, told GLAAD.
Raving over the words of Sen. Sarah McBride and others at the launch party, Keith said the start of this year’s event is amazing so far. Scheduled speakers include RuPaul Drag Race Alum, Peppermint, Equality Michigan’s Emme Zannotti, and former Muslim Youth Leadership Council (MYLC) member, Ameera Khan, and so many more.
“We really want to explore the diversity of gender, the intersectionality of different identities, and provide an opportunity for young people to feel like they can connect,” Keith said about this year’s theme, “where they can be inspired, they can have models of possibility for adult caregivers. It’s a place for them to come and learn, and get that education in a credible space.”
In the first year, the Transgender Empowerment Month conference was made up of 45 young people, all trans identified. Keith said many youth were nervous about what to expect, but each year since 2015 the conference has only grown, outsized venues, and broadened the community, says Keith.
The importance of the conference then and now is to allow transgender youth to have a space that’s organized for them to experience.
Logann Finkel met Roz in 2018. “I was transitioning and I was looking for support getting to and from my doctor’s appointments, and somebody had mentioned [that] there is this group, and you could reach out,” Finkel told GLAAD.
That group was Stand With Trans. From Michigan, Keith found someone in New Jersey that could help take Finkel to and from their transgender healthcare appointments.
Since they met, Finkel has been presenting at Transgender Empowerment Month, but this year, they’re excited to be an observer and a participant.
Like Keith, Finkel praised the launch of Transgender Empowerment Month 2024 and the programming ahead. Programming was paused between Oct. 2 and Oct. 4 for Rosh Hashanah observance, and resumed on Oct. 6 in the Jewish New Year with an open mic night.
“The guest speakers [on Oct. 1] were fantastic. It was done in a way that built so much excitement and interest in what we’re about to embark on over this month,” Finkel said. “I would just say I’m really excited.”
There will be more than 30 panels, workshops, and programming strewn throughout the entire month, and people can register at any point in October here.