Nico Lang
Blogger and Correspondent, WBEZ
First Ever Trans 100 List Spotlights Vital Voices in the Trans Community
Posted: 02/07/2013 5:47 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nico-lang/trans-100_b_2619993.htmlI've interviewed Richards a few times before, as I consider her work to be one of the true shining forces in Chicago queer activism and her work with the trans community a personal inspiration. Richards helped create We Happy Trans, an online platform that showcases trans voices and experiences through videos, blogs and other media. We Happy Trans has been covered by the Windy City Times, the Advocate and the New York Times, and I was beyond thrilled to be one of the first to grill Jen about her new project: the Trans 100.
Nico Lang: How did the Trans 100 get started?
Jen Richards: As with so much else, it was born during a sleepless night and in collaboration. Earlier in the evening a friend of mine, Toni D'Orsay, executive director of This is H.O.W. in Phoenix, AZ, posted the following on Facebook "I am seeking to create a Top 100 Trans people list -- sorta like the Forbes list, but built around activism and making a difference in the lives of many trans people," and asked for nominations. I loved the idea, threw in a few names and went to bed. As soon as my eyes closed, my mind started working out the potential impact of such a list, outlining all of the possible ways to formalize it, potential objections, how to make it a resource rather than a popularity contest, and the conditions under which I would be comfortable attaching We Happy Trans to the project. I got back up and started chatting with Toni, who was equally restless. We quickly came to an agreement on the terms and wrote copy for an announcement. I brought in Kai, the designer and admin of We Happy Trans, and by 2:00 a.m. we had set up an online form. We had over a hundred nominations in the first 24 hours.
[...]
NL: How do you think the kinds of nominees you've been seeing are reflective of the trans community?
JR: Startlingly diverse, which is wonderfully reflective of the community. What surprised and delighted me most was how many of the names that had received multiple nominations I had never heard of. That was like being at a party with all of your friends and then realizing there is a whole other room full of their friends whom you haven't met yet.
