Hey fam, it's me, Amara.

Welcome to the TransLash podcast, a show where we tell trans stories to save trans lives.

Well, we're clearly in a new, perhaps even unprecedented era in American politics.

And advocacy work, consequently, at the state level, is going to be more important than ever.

Of course, at the federal level, which we've already discussed,

but states are going to continue to be a sharp battleground for trans people

and anti-trans forces at the state level are going to feel

and are already showing signs of being even more emboldened to attack our community.

That's why I wanted to take a look at the state of trans organizing in localities across the

United States. And we're going to look at two very different states

in order to get a snapshot about what's happening and what's possible. First, I'll talk with the

executive director of One Colorado, Nadine Bridges, about how she's working to keep Colorado,

ostensibly a blue state, safe for LGBTQ people.

We need to be looking at this from immigration standpoint.

We need to be looking at this from a reproductive rights standpoint and around gender and crime and care

and thinking about how do we move together.

Then we'll learn about the struggles and points of hope

in the fight for trans safety in South Dakota with advocate Jack

Fonder, who has so much to teach us.

We just want to be seen and heard and we want to know that our lives are valid, no matter

what that means, right?

But before we get to these two inspiring and vital conversations, let's start out as always, with some trans joy. From the national stage to local politics, we need advocates fighting at every level.

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