Celebrate Trans!

“Being trans isn’t hard. What’s hard is living in a world that doesn’t like trans people.”

READ OUR STORIES

“It’s hard to hate someone whose story you know.”

JULIA: "Not having to hide is so freeing."

LEO: "I didn't know how to be a boy."

ALEX: "Queer people are being told we shouldn't exist."

MOSS: "My parents have been nothing but loving."

Lindsey: "Love is the rebel song."

NICOLE: "I prayed for God to fix me."

DAYLINA: "We can't rely on the government to protect us."

RACHEL: "I achieved everything I’ve imagined."

BLAINE: "I have a lot of love and respect for myself."

BUNES FAMILY: "We're gonna love our boys forever."

MAYA: "I'm not an object, I'm a human being."

GALEN: "The sky doesn't care about gender."

NOMI: "My honesty led me to myself."

THEODORE: "It's a beautiful experience."

ISAAC: "I don't have to think about what she thinks of me."

JOSIAH: "I've been lucky so far."

ALEX: "I had to rebuild my life."

LIAM: "Texas is not for me."

ERICA: "I wasn't yet ready to accept my truth."

ZEPHYR: "I gotta protect my heart."

About the Artist

Transgender Proud: Stories of Strength & Love

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"Thank you so very much for your presentation and dialog today at the West Age Well Center. Your style is professional, kind, and approachable, and it celebrates humanity while offering education. I’m happy our paths crossed and I’d love to host you here again in the future. All the best to you with where this work takes you. What you’re doing is very needed, and you’re a very special person in how you’re carrying forth the message and education."
— Whitney Garcia, Older Adult Services Program Manager, City of Boulder, Housing and Human Services
“I like to think of myself as very open-minded, but I still had misconceptions about trans people because I didn’t know anyone who was trans. After Sal’s presentation, I have a lot of respect for trans people, and I learned they just want to be treated the same as everyone else.”
— Nancy Fugina, St. Paul, Minnesota
“Sal’s slide show was an incredible learning opportunity for me, and it changed the way I understand this complex phenomenon. It’s easy to to be unsympathetic if you don’t challenge your biases, but because of Sal’s presentation, I’m much more empathetic towards trans people, and more understanding of the complex difficulties being caused by anti-trans legislation.”
— Cheryl Gray, Boulder, Colorado
“I found Sal’s presentation really interesting, informative and helpful. You hear so much in the news about transgender issues, but you don’t know what’s right and what’s true. To actually meet a person who is transgender and to hear these personal stories is extremely eye-opening.”
— Pam Stein, Boulder, Colorado
“The way Sal presents these people and their stories is so humanizing, and such a great resource for our community and for people who are questioning or have biases.”
— R. K., Tampa, Florida

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We’re beyond best friends; we call each other brothers. We can connect on a more intimate level because we’re both trans. We support each other always. We are found family. - James Abram and Dakoda Oliveira, Florida

As a girl, I never felt like I was in the proper body, and when I was in elementary school, I took notes on how to be a girl. I would watch my older sister and write down how she would sit, how she would speak, how she would present herself and inter

I’ve encountered a lot of mental health professionals who were very uneducated about trans people. I attempted suicide at 14 because I didn’t have access to gender affirming care, and while I was hospitalized, a nurse told me I was too yo

When I was 51, I finally figured out what had been rattling around in me for all those years. It was just happenstance that I unlocked the mystery. I was married at the time, and my wife thought it would be a hoot to switch gender roles for Halloween

Growing up, you were gay or not gay. We didn’t know anything about gender, so it took me a long time to figure myself out. I enjoyed wearing women’s clothing, but kept it a secret for 42 years. Now I realize I was just trying to wear my o

People think being trans is all about suffering and dysphoria, but for us, it’s defined by joy more than anything else.
We’re very deeply in love and tightly bonded. We are trans people loving each other, despite a world that tells us we