6 Trans Artists Who Are Dismantling Transphobia

The world often revolves around cisgender people. The media and acting world exclude trans people from not only playing cisgender and transgender characters. Trans people are just as talented as cis people, but the community and its artists are treated as a fringe group.

Here's a list of six transgender and gender non-conforming folks who create beautiful work in literature, music, acting, and visual arts world while battling transphobia. 

Lee Mokobe

Lee Mokobe is an award winning transgender poet from Cape Town, South Africa. He's an international slam poetry champion and, at 19, the youngest TED Fellow for 2015.

Ela Barton

Ela Barton is a black, Filipino queer poet and artist living in Seattle, Washington. They have a throng of awards backing up their caliber of skill, including the 2007 Bainbridge Island Poetry Slam Champion.

Becca Blackwell

Becca is a NYC-based trans actor, writer, and performer. Existing between genders and preferring the pronoun “they,” Blackwell works collaboratively with playwrights and directors to expand our sense of personhood and the body through performance. Becca was awarded the Doris Duke Impact Award 2015 specifically for their trans work in the theater. 

Texas Isaiah Horatio-Valenzuela

 

A photo posted by King Texas (@kingtexas) on

Nov 26, 2015 at 9:02am PST

King Texas creates revealing and potent photography. He identifies as a trans man and lives in Brooklyn. For several years, he captured the NYC nightlife scene with New Pop Media. He was also the co-producer and official photographer for Live at the Loft.

Brynn Estelle

Brynn Estelle identifies as a post apocalyptic transgender asterisk. She lives in North Carolina, where she is an educator, activist and a veteran of grad school and the service industry. She writes and performs songs that address the transmysogyny of the queer community and the larger cishet world. 

Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi

Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi is an African, Cuban, Native American trans performance artist and writer. In December of 2013, Lady Dane became the first trans woman of color author in DC to publish a novel of fiction.