Recently the news around Trans rights and visibility has been bleak, with over 400 bills and laws waiting to be passed by various state and local governments to govern our bodies and identities. It was with this in mind that the QMNTY Center and several others organizations came together this past weekend to celebrate the 1st annual Pgh Visibili-T Project in honor of Trans Day of Visibility at the QMNTY Center.
It was three days of community, music, art, and fun. People traveled to be around their fellow trans community and were thankful the space was here. On Friday, people shared their hardships and joys. There was communing with several emotional support dogs and furry little friends helping their humans. Then we gave our new sound-activated LED lights a spin with some fun music provided by DJ Mix Universe for the rest of the night.
On Friday we released a video featuring local trans and nonbinary people that talked about what it means to live their lives as their authentic selves and why Trans Day of Visibility is so important. Thank you to Akira for editing such a wonderful homage to Trans Day of Visibility, you can check out the video HERE.
On Saturday there was a small gathering of folks who did some various arts and crafts together for a few hours. It was a quiet and gentle time together. Sunday, Lazlo Productions provided a pizza, salad, and charcuterie spread for lunch and we enjoyed entertainment by local nonbinary singer-songwriter Vida Chai, Drag entertainers Lynnae O’Connor and Ray of Darkenss, and some really moving poetry by Mix Universe. It was an awesome afternoon spent among friends and family.
We are so thankful for the support of our event partners Trans YOUniting, Proud Haven, Allies for Health and Wellbeing, TransPride Pittsburgh, and Hugh Lane Wellness and offer a huge shout-out to our sponsor for this weekend of jammed packed events, Gilead Sciences.
Thank you for coming out to celebrate Trans Day of Visibility with the Pgh Visibili-T Project! We look forward to spending it with you again next year!
