Dr. KáLyn (Kay) Coghill, PhD, is an award-winning practitioner, educator, and activist with a
deep commitment to reproductive justice, Black liberation, and survivor justice. A Black
nonbinary femme poet, abortion doula, and community organizer, Dr. Kay has more than a
decade of experience in the communications industry. They serve as the Digital Director for
me too., specializing in strategic campaigns, narratives, and activations that raise awareness
about survivors’ justice and efforts to end sexual violence.
Dr. Kay is a dedicated board member of the Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project, a local
abortion fund and reproductive justice organization, where they also work as an abortion
doula. At Virginia Commonwealth University, Dr. Kay enriches the academic community as an
adjunct professor in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and English departments.
Beyond their academic and professional roles, Dr. Kay facilitates a sister circle called GLOW
at a local high school, empowering Black teens with knowledge about Black feminism and
hip-hop feminism. Their extensive experience is grounded in social justice, digital content
creation and strategy, and gender-based violence research.
DR. KAY, HAVE YOU OR YOUR COMMUNITY BEEN AFFECTED BY THE
ANTI-TRANS RHETORIC THAT IS CURRENTLY BEING EXPRESSED AND/OR
AFFECTED BY THE ANTI-TRANS LEGISLATION BEING PROPOSED AND
PASSED? IF SO, HOW?
The Black trans community in Virginia has been significantly harmed by anti-trans legislation,
which has worsened existing vulnerabilities and discrimination. These laws often limit access
to gender-affirming health care, which is essential for the well-being of trans individuals.
Black trans people, who already face systemic racism and economic disparities, are
disproportionately affected. These restrictions can result in increased mental health issues,
economic instability, and higher rates of violence and harassment. These forms of harmful
legislation create a hostile environment, further marginalizing Black trans folks and impeding
our access to essential services and support networks, ultimately jeopardizing our safety and
quality of life.
WHAT STORIES ABOUT YOUR COMMUNITY DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE
SHARED TO COMBAT THE ANTI-TRANS NARRATIVES CREATED IN THE
MEDIA TODAY?
Black trans folks in Virginia are bold, knowledgeable, and actively engaged in advocacy and
support—organizations like Side by Side focus on supporting LGBTQ+ and trans youth. As a
facilitator of a sister circle in Richmond, I welcome all Black girls and gender-nonconforming
youth, teaching them about Black feminism and its power as a tool for mobilization and
organization within our city.
WHAT CAN FOLKS WHO ARE READING THIS DO TO HELP? CAN YOU SHARE
ANY CALLS TO ACTION?
Please volunteer and mentor trans youth. They need people who care about their well-being
and are willing to fight for their rights. Showing up for our youth, especially our trans youth,
is imperative. This is a call to action: find an organization or start your own to amplify the
experiences of trans individuals and ensure their stories are heard.
HAVE THERE BEEN ANY WINS OR STEPS TOWARD PROGRESS IN OPPOSING
THE RAMPANT ATTACK ON BLACK TGNCIQ LIVES THAT YOU FEEL FOLKS
SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?
In Virginia, several laws have been enacted to ensure the safety and well-being of trans
youth. These include measures to protect against discrimination in schools and health care,
ensuring that trans students can use facilities that align with their gender identity and
accessing necessary medical treatments. These laws aim to create a more inclusive and
supportive environment for trans youth, affirming their rights and dignity. One of these laws
lists the ways in which 131 public schools are required to treat trans youth. This is a huge
feat.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY?
If you are not willing to show up in your community, you need to sit with yourself, figure out
why, and then unlearn that behavior. Your community needs you.
Pictured: Ms. Tamika Spellman (front), Kimberlee Kiosha Santana (staff)
with Grammy’s Place clients Jayda Elms and Michaelisa Jones
Tamika began advocating in the early 90s as a mouthy homeless transgender woman pushing
for positive policy change for trans women in shelters in Washington, D.C. She continued her
advocacy work in 2007 with Jefferson County AIDS in Minorities in Birmingham, Alabama, as
a spokesperson for the I Am the Face of HIV Campaign. She started working with HIPS in
June 2017 after being their client when the organization first opened its doors in 1993. In
2018, Tamika was promoted to the Policy and Advocacy Associate; in 2021, she became the
HIPS Advocacy Department’s Policy and Community Engagement Manager. She’s testified
numerous times on behalf of HIPS at D.C. city council hearings and spoken on several
harm-reduction panels.
She is the Sex Worker’s Advocates Coalition (SWAC) managing coordinator (DECRIMNOW)
and a community organizer for the Decrim Poverty movement. She also served as an advisor
to the Sex Worker Giving Circle, the Chosen Few, and No Justice No Pride. She is a member
of the Urban Survivors Union and held a seat as a board member for the Church Of Safe
Injection–Bangor, Maine. She has authored op-eds in The Root and has published several on
Medium has appeared in several articles, and has received an award from the Legal Society
of Washington, D.C. for work on the fare evasion bill.
She was also instrumental in the passage of a bill in Washington, D.C., to decriminalize drug
paraphernalia and has become a featured speaker in the harm-reduction arena. In addition,
she has advised congressional representatives Ayanna Pressley (on sex-work
decriminalization, The People’s Justice Guarantee and Ro Khanna (about the effects of
SESTA/FOSTA on consenting sex workers, The Safer Sex Worker Study Act) on proposed
legislation; she continues to consult members of Congress throughout their legislative
drafting process. Her newest venture is Grammy’s Place, a nontraditional safe house for
Black transgender women who may be substance users and may engage in sex work.
MS. TAMIKA, HAVE YOU OR YOUR COMMUNITY BEEN AFFECTED BY THE
ANTI-TRANS RHETORIC CURRENTLY BEING EXPRESSED AND/OR BY THE
ANTI-TRANS LEGISLATION BEING PROPOSED AND PASSED? IF SO, HOW?
We experience verbal and physical abuse/attacks because people are emboldened in actions
against us, due to the rhetoric heard from legislators. Laws being implemented are
discriminatory and create an atmosphere of violence and retribution against us for simply
trying to exist and survive.
WHAT STORIES ABOUT YOUR COMMUNITY DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE
SHARED TO COMBAT THE ANTI-TRANS NARRATIVES CREATED IN THE
MEDIA TODAY?
Life expectancy should rival that of our cis, heterosexual counterparts. Instead, we still
experience legislative bodies separating and segregating people by class, race, gender, and
economic status instead of extending freedoms and liberties to all.
HAVE THERE BEEN ANY WINS OR STEPS TOWARD PROGRESS IN OPPOSING
THE RAMPANT ATTACK ON BLACK TGNCIQ LIVES THAT YOU FEEL FOLKS
SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?
That we find our solutions, ways, and means to care for our own and make the world aware
of the atrocities we are forced to endure in modern history. Locally, we have fought back
and won against the policy that stated condoms could be used as evidence of sex work.
We’ve fought hard to have a choice in which shelters we stay in. We got Ro Khanna to
introduce the Safe Sex Worker Study Act due to the damage SESTA/FOSTA created for
consenting adult sex workers and their clients. We also influenced Ayanna Pressley to
introduce the People’s Justice Guarantee, which calls for the full decriminalization of sex
work and the abolition of the prison system as we know it. Many jurisdictions assisted sex
workers because they were part of street/cash economies during the pandemic.
WHAT CAN FOLKS WHO ARE READING THIS DO TO HELP? CAN YOU SHARE
ANY CALLS TO ACTION?
Sybastian Smith has been an LGBTQI+ social-justice activist, public speaker, consultant,
trainer, and certified health educator for nearly 20 years. Sybastian was born and raised in
Jackson, Mississippi, and resides in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the Director of Organizing at the
recently merged organization Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE, formerly National Center
of Trans Equality), and his role at A4TE includes policy advocacy, community outreach, and
mobilization. Sybastian also possesses many certifications in LGBTQI+ health competencies,
including safe and affirming transgender health care that specifically focuses on
primary-care reproductive and sexual health education. His goal is to specialize in
marginalized transgender patients’ health care by addressing social determinants, policy,
and public health factors that specifically affect the lives of the BIPOC transgender and
nonbinary communities.
As a Black transgender man, Sybastian feels he was born to help underserved communities of
people who look like him. He says, “Open dialogue and education are the keys to erasing
ignorance. The urgent need to talk candidly and educate our society about trans people’s
lived experiences is why I work so diligently to advocate for access to competent and
equitable health care, as well as equitable social and economic rights. This is how we save
lives!”
Sybastian models his life, work, and advocacy after this famous quote from Malcolm X: “A
man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.”
SYBASTIAN, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE LANDSCAPE FOR BLACK
TRANS FOLKS RIGHT NOW AS IT RELATES TO ANTI-TRANS LEGISLATION
ACROSS THE NATION?
This current climate of anti-trans legislation is an all-hands-on-deck moment for all of us,
especially those of us who are the most marginalized. We must understand the impact of
laws being passed that affect not only trans people but also BIPOC people. Our very right to
just live and be who we are is being threatened at the highest and lowest levels of
government. It is so important that Black trans folks get civically engaged so that we can
educate ourselves and be knowledgeable about what’s happening with legislation and policy
in our local and state–based areas. Being involved in federal and national policy advocacy is
great, and being involved with our local officials is where change really happens, particularly
for Black TGNCIQ communities.
WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO TO HELP THE CAUSE?
Connect with organizations specializing in LGBTQI+ policy advocacy so that you can
continue to learn more about the types of legislation being introduced and passed into law.
Understand the overlapping impact of legislation on the most marginalized communities of
ours. People should exercise their right to vote and actively advocate for laws and policies in
their local areas that protect all citizens, including TGNCIQ communities. We must continue
to take action by calling legislators when good or bad bills are being introduced to inform
them of how, if passed, those laws would directly affect them. Remember, those officials
work for us!
People can also continue to fund and financially support not only our community members
but also the projects and programs that protect us, provide resources, and advocate for
better legal protections for our community in those political arenas.
IS THERE PARTICULARLY PRESSING OR URGENT LEGISLATION FOLKS
SHOULD BE WORKING TO ORGANIZE AGAINST?
The most pressing legislation that folks should be paying attention to are those bills that
attempt to define sex and gender identity. We usually see these types of bills under the
guise of a women’s and/or girls’ rights, safety, or protection act, as well as being titled as
sex designation bills. These are the bills that attempt to codify into law what politicians
believe are characteristics that define male and female, with no clear protection for intersex
people. These bills are harmful for several reasons, but namely because of how vague they
are and how it gives businesses, employers, schools, providers, correctional facilities, etc.,
the ability to discriminate against TGNCIQ community members based on what would be the
“legal” definition of sex and/or gender should this type of bill become law.
There are also bills being passed in many states that inhibit trans and nonbinary people from
getting and/or changing identification documents to match their gender identity.
We also must continue to stay aware of the bills that threaten gender-affirming and
transition-related healthcare access for not just trans youth but also for trans adults. We
have been seeing a few states starting to introduce legislation that will impact medical care
for all trans people, including youth and adults.
Due to the tireless work of many organizers, lobbyists, and policy advocates, the majority of
the more-than-400 bills introduced during the 2024 legislative session did not pass through
the legislature to become law, which is important to highlight. However, those bills that did
pass are still very detrimental to TGNCIQ communities, which signifies that our fight is not
over yet!
WHAT’S YOUR HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF BLACK TGNCIQ COMMUNITIES?
My hope for Black TGNCIQ communities is that we all can live happy and healthy lives,
despite our gender identities. We are all human beings and deserve to be treated that way.
My hope is that TGNCIQ people can see a world full of possibilities and realize that we have
the same chance as anyone else to live the lives we all dream of.
HOW CAN FOLKS GET IN CONTACT WITH YOUR ORGANIZATION?
As we approach Pride season, I wanted to send a message to remind us all that the first Pride was a riot! A riot against police, surveillance, and violent repression of bodily autonomy. One of the Black trans women at one of those very first riots came to
San Francisco to make space for other trans folk. That was 20 years ago, and that
woman is our trans mother, the one and only Miss Major Griffin Gracy. Miss Major
co-founded the TGI Justice Project with Alexander L. Lee. Alex first made space for us
to gather and support each other inside prisons. Alex made space and saw that the most
powerful thing he could do for our collective liberation was to share that space and
turn it over to a Black trans woman with lived experience inside prison.
Happy Pride, y’all!
SnapCo. is celebrating its 11th anniversary! Whether it’s been leading direct actions to keep trans people safe, supporting families of anti-trans/queer or police violence, authoring participatory research reports, producing cultural art projects, or curating some of the most inclusive and lit events that center Black trans leadership and joy in Atlanta, SnapCo. has embodied its commitment to the Movement for Black Lives and
liberation for trans, femmes, and queer folks in the South!
