Nearly 1,000 people demonstrate in Chicago to show support for transgender people amid attacks
Christy Cox, 58, says she has been fighting for the rights of transgender people like herself for decades.
'I'm here to really show that queer elders do exist, so that 8-year-old kid over there can see that you can grow up and be a 58-year-old trans person,' Cox said.
The Naperville resident, who joined close to 1,000 people Sunday at a transgender rights protest in Federal Plaza, held a sign that read 'survive out of spite.' Cox said this kind of visibility is something she wishes she'd had growing up. Even with attacks on transgender rights from the Trump administration, seeing transgender youths show up with their parents at the afternoon protest gave her hope.
The protest, led by the advocacy group Trans Up Front Illinois in partnership with Indivisible Chicago, took place the day before Trans Day of Visibility, which is recognized by LGBTQ+ advocates Monday.
Trans Up Front Illinois organized another protest in February outside Lurie Children's Hospital when the hospital announced it would no longer provide gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 19.
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, he has signed numerous executive orders targeting transgender people, including a ban that prevents transgender athletes from participating in women and girls' sports, an order that forces transgender women in federal prisons to be housed with men and a restriction on the ability of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people to change their gender markers on passports or to serve in the military.
At Sunday's protest, attendees displayed a range of emotions, from anger due to the Trump administration's attacks, to joy because of the sheer number of people who showed up to publicly support transgender people.
'We are a resilient people. Don't you dare tell them we don't belong,' Precious Brady-Davis, a commissioner for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and the first Black transgender woman to be an elected official in Cook County, said to the crowd. 'We belong in every (sector) of society, from the boardroom to the bathroom. Quit playing with us. Our lives matter and we deserve to be treated with respect and decency.'
The actions of the current administration against trans people hit home not just for individuals, but organizations supporting transgender people in Illinois, with some organizations put into jeopardy as the Trump administration cracks down on funding for LGBTQ+ organizations.
'As many of you know, Trans Chicago staff were laid off,' Tichike Tumalan, program coordinator for the Puerto Rican Cultural Center's Trans Chicago Empowerment Center, said to the crowd. 'Our (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) funding was temporarily cut, and even though some of us were rehired, there's still that instability of whether or not we'll lose these grants again tomorrow.'
While the protest focused on transgender rights, the event was endorsed by organizations advocating for other issues, including neighborhood groups, an abortion rights group and a cannabis rights group.
'You are on the people's menu, and on this menu, every single one of us here will be served a course of injustice,' Channyn Parker, CEO of Brave Space Alliance, said to the crowd while holding up a menu. 'We are all under attack. We are all on the people's menu.'
Once all the speakers had finished, and just as it started to rain downtown, the crowd marched from Federal Plaza to Trump Tower.
____
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jim Jordan's 'In America' Rant Goes Very Wrong, Very Quickly
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is getting called out on social media for a rant about flags that doesn't seem to apply to everyone. Jordan retweeted a message from the House Judiciary Committee ― which he chairs ― showing a Mexican flag at the scene of the chaotic protests in Los Angeles. He followed that up with a message of his own: We fly the American flag in America. — Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) June 9, 2025 Jordan's critics flagged him on X with two quick reminders: that the First Amendment allows people to fly whatever flag they want... and that Jordan hasn't highlighted other flags flown, such as Confederate flags, especially at events in support of President Donald Trump. Trump supporters have also flown a number of flags that violate the U.S. Flag Code by including images of Trump and MAGA messages on them. Many of those types of flags and more have been on display at Trump events and during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol carried out by Trump's supporters. Jordan's critics fired back with some pointed reminders: Like this? — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 9, 2025 I can fly whatever flag I want. It came free with my first amendment. — the german gentleman aka grubauer's #1 fan (@midaeros) June 9, 2025 Apparently not — Carlos Villarreal (@crlosvllarreal) June 9, 2025 🤔 — Jen (@JenResistedAGN) June 9, 2025 Like this? — Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) June 9, 2025 can't recognize the difference between a Confederate flag, a MAGA flag, and the stars and stripes. Ohio ain't sending their best. — emptywheel (check) (@emptywheel) June 9, 2025 Like this — Kathryn Horsman (@kathrynhorsman) June 10, 2025 We know what flag you fly… — JustTheFacts! ⚓️ 🇺🇸🦅 (@JustTheFacts_68) June 10, 2025 Like this? — Dianne Callahan (@DianneCallaha16) June 9, 2025 Is that so? — Dittie (@DittiePE) June 9, 2025 Like these? — Shady (@Shadywmn) June 9, 2025 Actually, being an American means you have the freedom to fly any flag you want. Just like the people you support marched a confederate flag through the Capitol on January 6. — Michael Freeman (@michaelpfreeman) June 9, 2025 wE fLy ThE aMrIcAn FlAg In AmeRiCa — 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒 ℙ𝕠𝕕𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕥 (@thocpodcast) June 10, 2025 Go ahead, tell all the Irish, Italian, and Greek neighborhoods to take down their flags. Let me know how that goes. — Kay 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 💙💙F*CK PUTIN (@katelykeanon) June 9, 2025 Really?Is that new? — DKGray (@TheRealDKGray) June 9, 2025 wait until he sees all the flags during the World Cup — Yessi (@YESSISG16) June 10, 2025
USA Today
34 minutes ago
- USA Today
Work is worth the risk: Undocumented workers in LA say they have no choice
LOS ANGELES – Perched on a plastic lawn chair outside a Home Depot in paint-stained pants and scuffed work boots, Jose Luis Valencia, 54, kept one eye out for ICE agents and another looking for work. Days after a series of federal immigration raids across Los Angeles sparked isolated but intense protests around the city, Valencia and other undocumented immigrants risked detention as they sought a paycheck. For them, picking up work at Home Depot is their only source of income, and some work as little as one day a week. While Valencia and other day laborers sought wages, other community members in Paramount and Compton, both in Los Angeles County, are cautiously watching federal troops, bracing for more raids and trying to look to the future while looking out for each other. Some are still seaching for detained family members. And others? Well, they've seen worse. "We're a little nervous, but we're here looking for work to survive," said Valencia, who was born in the Tepito neighborhood of Mexico City. "We need money to put food on the table and support our family." Some of the fiercest clashes between police and community members protesting ICE took place in the street outside the store on June 7, and National Guard troops remained stationed in the area two days later. Small pieces of debris still littered the streets and people remained on edge following reports of continued ICE detentions. A man rushed across the parking lot toward Valencia's group, calling "la migra, la migra," his alert turning heads as they looked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. While one man immediately turned and walked away, Valencia stayed put. "There's no money," Valencia said. "The money I make doesn't stretch. I just make enough money to eat." Nicaraguan immigrant Johandry Gabriel Obando, 38, said he fled unrest at home with the hope that the United States would provide a better life for his family. Now he worries they'll be deported, forcing them to start life all over for the second time. "It's tough," he said. Updates from Los Angeles: Newsom sues over Trump's National Guard deployment in LA; 700 Marines also being sent Different perspectives on recent events The ICE raids have sparked broad concern across Los Angeles, where 32% of its residents were born in another country. The city has long been home to immigrant communities from around the world, and many families have mixed status, with undocumented parents raising children born as American citizens. And while many residents and officials in Los Angeles have sought to tamp down reactions to the sometimes-violent protests, President Donald Trump and his administration have appeared to fan the flames, hurling insults in social media posts and encouraging an aggressive response to protests. Trump sent out an email June 9 to supporters asking for campaign donations to support his approach because things are "looking really bad in LA," he said in an email to supporters. Trump ICE raids, deportation efforts: See the backlash and the administration's impact Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom have continued their longtime feud, with the governor suing the federal government over Trump's decision to send in the National Guard, and Trump threatening to have Newsom arrested for interfering. Trump on June 9 deployed at least 500 U.S. Marines to back up the 4,000 National Guard troops. The president pledged in a social media post to "liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots. Order will be restored, the Illegals will be expelled, and Los Angeles will be set free." But to many residents of Los Angeles, there's no invasion, no "illegals" and no freedom to be restored – the city was doing just fine until ICE began detaining people, USA TODAY found in a series of interviews. Among those frustrated by the president's approach was 30-year LA resident Ira Long, 67, a retired teacher and pastor at the Alondra Church of Christ in Compton. Speaking while volunteers prepared to distribute oats, rice, tuna and canned tomatoes to community members, just as they do every Monday, Long said there's a palpable unease in the air. Long said he still remembers when the National Guard was called out in the wake of the 1992 Rodney King riots. This, he said, is far less significant. "That was a really really terrible time. Right now I don't feel any of that tension or anxiety," said Long, a retired special education teacher. "But people are uneasy and there's a real sense of loss because we have lost people (to federal immigration authorities) who were a part of this community." 'This wasn't the first time and it won't be the last' Among those struggling was longtime Compton resident Isabel Ramirez, who said she is "dying of sadness" after multiple family members were detained on June 7. Waiting in line in a folding chair at the Alondra Church of Christ, Ramirez said her family was visiting from San Jose, but had left her house to buy gardening tools when they were detained by ICE. "They took them away," Ramirez says. "They're all married and have children who were born in the U.S., but they don't have papers." Ramirez said she found out about the raids on TV and is anxiously awaiting word about her family's fate. "We don't know where they are. We don't know where they took them. We're just waiting, still," Ramirez said, tearing up. "Their poor kids, what's going to happen with them? What's going to happen? We're sad, we're praying to the Virgin Mary that this gets resolved. Wherever we go, we have our cellphones with us, just in case." Just down Alondra Boulevard, longtime donut shop owner Charlie Lim looked out at the handful of broken windows and widespread anti-ICE graffiti spraypainted on buildings and the street itself. On June 8, hundreds of community members clashed with authorities outside Lim's "Dale's Donuts," and small piles of debris still sat in the intersection. Nearby, a law enforcement remote-monitoring station lay tipped on its side, smashed and spraypainted. 'Unacceptable and inhumane': Latinas for Trump founder blasts immigration arrests "I've seen worse," said Lim, who has owned the shop for 33 years. He said he started just after the King riots, when the border between Compton and Paramount was far more dangerous every night. "They would rob you just for the fun of it," Lim said, recalling a time when drug dealers ran the streets. Today, he said, the city is far safer for businesses like his. "This wasn't the first time and it won't be the last time," he said, looking at the cracked window and spray paint. 'We take care of people' On June 9, community resident and retired teacher Jose "Bear" Gallegos, 61, kept watch on the deployed National Guard troops blocking the entrance to the Paramount Business Center, which Gallegos said is home to a small federal detention site. Protests broke out there when ICE agents tried to transfer detainees from that site to a larger facility in downtown Los Angeles, he said. Gallegos, who graduated from and later taught at the adjacent Manuel Dominguez High School, said the community was fine without ICE intruding. "They're the ones snatching people who look just like me into unmarked vehicles," said Gallegos, after showing off a carton of spent tear gas canisters he collected from the street. "They had a plan all along. They wanted a reaction from us." Gallegos said he felt compelled to join the protest and calm unrest among his former students, and said that while there were a small number of agitators who clearly wanted to battle with law enforcement, the vast majority simply wanted to stop ICE. "We don't have guns. All we have is prayers and feathers," he said. "And there are going to be some young people who are going to be mad, rightfully so. We love L.A. We take care of people. But you can't blame young people when they've had enough. And they've had enough." At the Home Depot, Valencia shifted in his plastic lawn chair and considered his options. He said he's resigned to being deported if ICE catches him, but finding work remained his top priority. Valencia and the group of men, whom he said are "like brothers," immigrated from Mexico and Nicaragua. Some arrived as recently as three years ago, although Valencia has been living in the United States for more than 30 years. Valencia said they have been unable to afford attorneys to help them become legal residents. "We're not criminals, we're not thieves," he said. "We're just looking for jobs."
USA Today
40 minutes ago
- USA Today
Active-duty troops deployed to California
Active-duty troops deployed to California Good morning!🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert. Can you guess Chipotle's new dip? Quick look at Tuesday's news: Anti-ICE protests continued in Los Angeles for a fourth night. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ousted all 17 members of a panel that advises the CDC on the safety, efficacy and clinical needs of vaccines. The man at the center of the Supreme Court case that changed gay marriage is worried about equality. 700 Marines are heading to Los Angeles Anti-immigration raid protests continued last night as the Pentagon is set to send hundreds of Marines to support the National Guard in California as state officials say they will sue the Trump administration's decision to "trample over" Gov. Gavin Newsom's authority. The addition of active-duty troops marks a significant escalation. It comes as California officials say they will sue the Trump administration after the president ordered National Guardsmen to Los Angeles without the governor's consent and after the president even suggested Newsom should be arrested. Get more coverage on the situation in Los Angeles with USA TODAY: New Jersey governor's race will signal Democrats next move New Jersey's gubernatorial primary Tuesday is considered one of the best litmus tests for the type of candidate Democrats have an appetite for going forward. There are six Democrats seeking to succeed Gov. Phil Murphy (a fellow Democrat who is term limited). Electability remains an issue in the primary that could hobble progressives with a more aggressive approach, and give more centrist-minded contenders an opening. And many New Jersey Democrats have openly expressed concern in recent reports that their state, which tends to lean blue in presidential elections, might be turning red. Experts have warned how close — and unpredictable — this race will be. More news to know now What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here. RFK Jr. fires entire CDC vaccine advisory panel Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired all 17 members of a committee that advises the federal government on vaccine safety and will replace them with new members, a move that the Trump administration's critics warned would create public distrust around the government's role in promoting public health. Kennedy Jr.'s decision marks a reversal from what a key Republican senator said the Trump Cabinet member had promised during his confirmation hearings earlier this year. One medical expert told USA TODAY that Kennedy was "fixing a problem that doesn't exist." Travelers caught off guard as travel ban rules come into effect 'It's scary. It makes me worried. It affects my decisions to go home to visit my family.' ~ Randy Wicaksana, 33, an Indonesian national who has lived in the U.S. for about three years. Wicaksana said he is preparing to return home later this month to renew his visa but is increasingly uncertain about what might await him when he comes to the U.S. again. Today's talkers He was at the center of a Supreme Court case that changed gay marriage. Now, he's worried. When Jim Obergefell was sitting in the gallery at the Supreme Court on June 26, 2015, he was waiting to hear his name. The justices were preparing to rule on Obergefell v. Hodges, a case that became a landmark in the progress toward LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S. The case, which considered the rights of same-sex couples to marry, ultimately won favor with a majority of the justices, but for Obergefell, the moment wasn't, and could never be, totally complete. His husband, John Arthur, died years before the ruling was announced. Now, 10 years on, Obergefell sat down with USA TODAY to reflect on how their love for each other helped shape the fight for marriage equality in the U.S., and what progress there is to still be made in the fight for equality. Photo of the day: Ed soars If you've missed Ed the zebra's escapades this past week, the rogue zoo animal was finally caught and given an aerial trip home. He just wanted to see the world from a different point of view!
