How a Michigan Trans Rights Rally Ignited Nationwide Solidarity — See Our Exclusive Photo Gallery
Michigan's Transgender Unity Coalition inspires national day of protest
On Jan. 30, more than 100 transgender people and allies assembled at the steps of the Michigan Capitol Building on a cold winter afternoon to voice their solidarity in the face of the recent onslaught of executive orders targeting the trans community.
What started as a local event planned by the Michigan-based Transgender Unity Coalition (TUC) quickly evolved into a nationwide movement. Contacts made via Discord and other social media soon attracted activists in other states. By the day of the rallies, eight other coordinated protests took place in California, Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
The breadth of the events was so large that TUC's executive director, Bree Taylor, decided to head the Columbus, Ohio rally herself, and asked Mallory Fournier to lead the Lansing event.
A resident of Ferndale and a civil engineer working in renewable energy, this was not Fournier's first foray into activism. She had joined TUC and lobbied on its behalf to secure the passage of House Bills 5300-5303, which eased name and gender marker changes in the state of Michigan. When she heard about the formation of the Transgender Unity Rally, she asked how she could help, and Taylor entrusted her with the responsibility of running the Michigan rally.
Fournier and various volunteers arrived about an hour before the noon start of the rally to set up as an enthusiastic crowd started building. “Organizing gives me goosebumps," Fournier noted. "The solidarity and the support just makes me feel like we can do anything!”
As the audience quickly grew, politicians like Rep. Julie Brixie (D-Meridian Twp.) and longtime transgender activist Grace Bacon, who founded the seminal transgender advocacy organization Crossroads in 1977, took the stage.
“So happy we did [start early] because it gave us a long space to allow the community to come and speak, which I felt made our event so damn special. It's so important to give people that space in the most accepting crowd you'll ever be in front of,” Fournier said.
The rallies were all live-streamed and videos came in from the other state capital events showing similarly large turnouts. The Sacramento, California protest alone drew well over 100 people. The success and resulting enthusiasm they generated has led TUC head Taylor to announce a national protest in Washington, D.C. on March 1.
“We saw our community and allies come together,” Taylor said afterwards. “This day was a show of solidarity, telling those watching that they are not alone. On the contrary, they have love and support from many members of the public.”
Fournier was even more effusive in her summary of the Lansing rally.
“The energy the crowd gave was electrifying for the full three hours!" she said. "The amount of joy I saw on so many faces. To be surrounded by your own people, to be accepted, to know that we’re here together, and together we can make it through these hard times.”
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