history: erasure + defiance

Space is defined by its users and once it has been defined, holds the history of the actions that gave it its meaning. To move within space that has not been created nor historically used for your demographic, means to exert force onto the existing spatial restrictions and to find expression within the confines of an existing space. (13) Unless the pattern of “space-invasion” (14) is consistently recurrent, the existing historical marks of the space will erase the temporary nature of its occupants.

Queerness was criminalized in America for the majority of the 20th century. Queer places were the underground, the ball, the nightclub and the bathhouse. They were privately-public, enclosed spaces in the outside world that allowed them, even if in secret, to exist as human beings free to express their identities and desires. Queer places in these times were also the streets, the parks, jails, the aids ward, the mental hospital. Public space for queer people often meant they were violated, victimized, and incarcerated because they dared to exist outside of the cis-heteronormative social code. (15)

Our queer ancestors fought to establish and maintain their right to space; they fought to bring us out of the underground and into the open. It is because of them - especially trans-women of color - that LGBTQIA+ rights have expanded. “The 1969 stonewall riots and the act up and queer nation actions marked three exceptional points in an ongoing trajectory of increased purposefulness in queer community building and place-making.” (16) Queer protesting led the fight against AIDS. It let to the federal decriminalization of same-sex intercourse (2003) and the federal legalization of same-sex marriage (2015). (17) We owe our visibility, acceptance, and legal protections to the queers who came before us.

As of December 6th 2023, the day I am writing this, 591 anti-trans bills have been proposed in 49 states. 85 of them have passed, 377 of them are active and, thankfully, 129 have failed. They “seek to block trans people from receiving basic healthcare, education, legal recognition, and the right to publicly exist.” […] “The ‘Women’s Bill of Rights’ would erase trans recognition by the federal government.” (18) The thinly veiled rhetoric about “protecting the children” does nothing to hide a very clear message: right-wing lawmakers intend to eliminate trans people from the public sphere. (19)

However, trans people have always and will always exist. We will continue to demonstrate, to declare ourselves in public space. Protest is at the core of our history and, therefore, at the core of every place created by queer people. In a time where our rights are unstable and trans people, especially trans people of color, are violently targeted, it is essential to orient, map, and mark our existence in physical space.

14 Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. (Routledge, 2006).

15 Fitzgerald, Tom, and Lorenzo Marquez. Legendary Children: The First Decade of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Last Century of Queer Life. (Penguin Publishing Group,2020).

16 Ingram, Gordon Brent, Anne-Marie Bouthillette, and Yolanda Retter, eds. Queers in Space, 47.

17 “Human Rights Campaign: Extremists at CPAC Laid Bare Hatred at Root of Vile Legislation Targeting Trans People,” Human Rights Campaign, March 6, 2023, https:// www.hrc.org/press-releases/human-rights-campaign-extremists-at-cpac-laid-bare-hatred-at-root-of-vile-legislation-targeting-trans-people.

18 “2023 Anti-Trans Bills: Trans Legislation Tracker,” n.d., https:// translegislation.com/.

20 Ingram, Gordon Brent, Anne-Marie Bouthillette, and Yolanda Retter, eds. Queers in Space Communities, Public Places, Sites of Resistance. (Seattle, WA: Bay Press, 1997), 20.13 Ingram, Gordon Brent, Anne-Marie Bouthillette, and Yolanda Retter, eds. Queers in Space.