Tualatin is joining jurisdictions worldwide this year in designating March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility.
During a February meeting, the Tualatin City Council heard from about a half-dozen community members who spoke in favor of recognizing the day before voting 6-1 in favor of moving forward with the Proclamation.
“This day will be honored around the world as an opportunity to celebrate all that transgender and nonbinary people continue to contribute to humanity,” said Chris Paul. “Tualatin has an opportunity to join with those voices and let the world know that our city supports our transgender and nonbinary friends. This is a chance to demonstrate that Tualatin stands firm in its commitment to the values of diversity and inclusion.”
Paul, the Co-Chair of Tualatin’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access (IDEA) committee, kicked off the public comments by praising both the Council and the community for creating a welcoming city.
Several gender-diverse people and allies relayed personal stories, both heartening and harrowing, of their experiences living in Tualatin. Each stressed the Proclamation’s importance.
Kit Lorelied, who is non-binary, lives in Tualatin with their family. The Tualatin Librarian and the City’s 2022 Employee of the Year underscored the importance of simple recognition in a time when transgender rights are under fire.
“I know this seems like a small thing. Like we’re just making a Proclamation in a tiny, little town in the middle of Oregon, right? But the fact is, this is everything to the people like me,” said Kit Lorelied.
They said as a non-binary person, they have faced and witnessed transphobic harassment from library patrons, and their transgender child has experienced bullying for his identity. They’re personally grappling with uncertainty triggered by a slew of Executive orders aimed at transgender and non-binary people.
“It’s hard right now,” Lorelied said. “I don’t even know if I can leave the country. I just applied for my passport, and they’ve cashed the check, but who knows if (the passport) will come back to me because right now they’re pausing all of those on a federal level.”
The first International Trans Day of Visibility was held in 2009, spearheaded by Michigan-based activist Rachel Crandell Crocker, and the day was officially recognized by then-President Joe Biden in 2021.
Emily Baker echoed the importance of recognizing the day in a moment when the current President has removed Federal recognition in a slew of executive orders aimed at transgender people.
Baker, a transgender woman and Tualatin High School alumnus who has lived more than half of her life in the city, told the Council: “I think it’s vital that we stand up as a community and say that we don’t tolerate (discriminatory) treatment, that we don’t want people excluded on the basis of how they see themselves and what kind of medical treatment they need.”
Paul stressed the importance of backing transgender and nonbinary neighbors in a moment when Federal policy has shifted.
“Our neighbors are enduring challenges and trials for simply wishing to live authentically. Their lives have been upended by a political system that seeks to reduce their identity to that of an abstract issue.”
Before voting, Councilors Bridget Brooks, Valerie Pratt, Christen Sacco, and Cyndy Hillier each spoke in support of the motion.
“It’s an onus on all of us to find ways to better educate ourselves, to better support the people that we know and love, and certainly from this position, we should be doing everything we can to make this community better for everyone,” Hillier said.
Brooks, Pratt, Sacco, Hillier, Councilor Maria Reyes, and Mayor Frank Bubenik voted for the Proclamation. Councilor Octavio Gonzalez voted against the Proclamation.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Tualatin Life reached out to Councilor Octavio Gonzalez for comment on this story. While Gonzalez declined to comment, he submitted a written response, which you can find by clicking here.
