Angelica Christina On Trans Representation in Media, Gender-Affirming Care, And Ballroom Activism

On Transgender Day of Visibility, GO Magazine celebrates the joy and resilience of trans and nonbinary people everywhere. We must always continue to uplift their voices and experiences and raise awareness of the discriminatory attacks they face. 

Angelica Christina is a trans, NYC-based LGBTQ+ activist, SAG-AFTRA actor, model, member of the House of Xtravaganza, and Board Director of the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative. In February, she delivered a powerful speech in front of the Stonewall National Monument after references to transgender and queer people were removed from the National Park Service website. With a passionate and kind-hearted spirit, Angelica embodies an unwavering dedication to educating the world on the attacks against the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans members.

Angelica sat down to chat with GO ahead of Transgender Day of Visibility, where the conversation circled several themes, including the erasure of LGBTQ+ history on the National Parks website, the Trump administration, how media should and shouldn’t cover trans issues, gender-affirming care, the Stonewall Gives Back Initiative, ballroom built on activism, the Harvey Milk High School, and what people should be doing on this day of transgender visibility.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

GO: I wanted to talk about how recently the words ‘transgender’ and ‘queer’ were removed from the National Park Service website for the Stonewall National Monument. And I want to say you gave a very moving and hopeful speech outside of The Stonewall Inn in February about this. Could you share your experience about what it was like being there at Stonewall during this rally?

Angelica Christina: That was such a powerful moment in time for me because, as we all know, trans folks have been under virulent attack, especially under this current Nazi administration, and so to even have the opportunity to gather with community, with trans folks, with trans and nonbinary youth, felt like such a powerful and almost spiritual moment. I said what I said that day because I wanted to really point out the hypocrisy of this current administration that is demonizing and criminalizing trans folks, rather than holding the actual criminals committing crimes in this country accountable for their crimes. 

I also wanted to send a message to trans, nonbinary, intersex, and Two-Spirit folks, that they exist, that we are valid, that we have existed for centuries, and that we are not going anywhere. But it goes without saying, our community has been under massive attack. We have been deeply devastated and afraid of what’s happening in our country. And it also goes without saying, I think the 70-plus million people that voted for this administration did not just vote for border security. They did not vote solely for the economy. They voted for the anti-trans rhetoric and hatred during the Trump administration’s campaign. He spent $215 million on anti-trans ads, and sadly, that really resonated with his base, and it resonated with some Democrats as well. So I would be remiss not to mention that it has resonated, that sort of hatred and bigotry has resonated with people on both sides. 

We need to be focusing on the fact that there is an affordable housing crisis in the United States. We should be focusing on making groceries and eggs more affordable for the American people. We should be focusing on our failed education system, an education system that unfortunately does not protect children from being bullied, that is not really protecting students and educators from being shot up and murdered in schools. But yet, we’re targeting the most vulnerable 1% of our community, rather than holding the real threats to our country. Which is the billionaire, rich 1% of this country.

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You make such a great point about the rhetoric used to target this vulnerable community. I’ve been thinking about the role of a journalist. A lot of media coverage often talks about trans and trans youth but rarely talks to them. Coming from my perspective as a journalist and your experience of being interviewed and covered in media, do you have any tips or advice for journalists when covering transgender people, topics, and legislation, especially now?

It is important to point out that the New York Times is very guilty of reporting about trans and nonbinary folks without even considering us and without even putting our voices into the equation. I just did an interview with the New York Times with Stacy Lentz, who is the co-owner of Stonewall, and the co-founder of the board that I sit on, the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative. The journalist chose to not even include a quote from me, the trans person in conversation, but rather only quoted Stacy. As the co-owner of Stonewall, I understand it’s very important to quote Stacy and to have her voice in there. But for a piece that is centering around erasing trans people from a government website, I just found it interesting that I was erased essentially from that article.

Media has always had such a problematic history when it comes to trans representation and trans visibility. Which is why it’s so important to have a day like Trans Day of Visibility, which was founded by Rachel Crandall Crocker in 2009, because Rachel and many of us in the community recognized that we were being excommunicated and essentially erased from a lot of the opportunities for trans stories to be told.

I did an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2007 on her show, and I was very much blindsided on that stage. I was not only misgendered, but she had the audacity to ask me about my genitals. That was such a moment for me where I felt so deeply ashamed of myself. Trans folks are often [reduced] to our genitals. When we discuss our trans identities, the focus is more often than not on our genitals, rather than who we are as human beings. 

But again, the media just consistently gets it wrong. And it’s sadly not just media. It’s also across the board.

When people come across this information, some of the rhetoric around this is very nasty. For people who aren’t familiar with gender-affirming care, how is this life-saving for people, and what can people do in response to this alarming ban on gender-affirming care for youth?

It absolutely goes without saying that gender-affirming care is life-saving, and I speak to that experience. I am living proof that gender-affirming care is life-saving, especially when it comes to trans youth. Just the idea of gender-affirming care can give a trans youth or a nonbinary youth a sliver of hope in a world that is intent on demonizing them simply for existing. And that gender affirming care can come in many different ways.

It’s important to note that trans youth cannot access gender-affirming care without the consent of their parents, grown adults, and their medical team. The rhetoric around trans youth one day going to school and then coming back trans with surgeries, much in the ways that Trump has claimed, is wildly false. Gender-affirming care is life-saving. Trans and nonbinary youth deserve that care.

I noticed you’re an alum of The Harvey Milk High School. Could you talk about your experience at the nation’s first high school designed for LGBTQ+ people?

Sadly the way in which I found Harvey Milk was because of a suicide attempt I had when I was a child. I was approximately 12 or 13 years old, being tormented and bullied relentlessly by classmates within the Catholic school systems that I used to attend. The schools did nothing to protect me, much in the ways they still don’t to this day. I was hospitalized at Lenox Hill, and fortunately, the doctor who was assigned to my case was the one who told me about Harvey Milk High School.

What I found there was my identity. I met other trans folks; I met other queer folks.  I really had the space to navigate who I was, and put a language to what it was that I was feeling. I was able to navigate everything that I was feeling wholeheartedly without shame. In fact, I was massively supported by not just the students, but also the staff. They encouraged me to express myself authentically. And I’m so blessed to be an alum of the Harvey Milk High School. I am so grateful that they are still around, that they are still servicing LGBTQIA+ youth, and I hope to see more of those institutions in the country, because we need them now more than ever.

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What advice would you give to trans and nonbinary youth who are struggling with their mental health while navigating their identity?

I implore the trans youth out there to seek out their community. While the internet is such a dangerous space, especially for marginalized and at-risk folks like the trans community, seek out your community because we are out here. We are out here existing and living our most authentic lives, and you are not alone. So I just ask all it takes is a simple Google search, seek out LGBTQIA+ nonprofit organizations that can help you and provide you with services, because they are out there. I know that these hellish next four years are going to be tumultuous, but again, you have people fighting for you. And if you have the capacity, if you feel safe enough to do so, come to a rally. And you will meet us, and you will see the hope that I am talking about.

Could you talk about your work as Board Director of the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative?

I was voted unanimously as the first not only trans person, but person of color to be voted onto the board. The work that we’ve been doing has been incredible. We are a grant program for LGBTQIA+ nonprofits all over the world, especially in states and countries where it’s still illegal to be LGBTQIA+. But also, we have our Safe Space Program, which is designated for restaurants, venues, bars, nonprofits, for-profits, and any kind of organization that claims to support the LGBTQIA+ community. And we ensure that they support us 365 days a year, not just during Pride, so there are several stipulations with regard to becoming a safe space. You cannot donate to an anti-LGBT legislator. You must donate to an LGBTQIA+ nonprofit. It doesn’t have to be ours. However, we always appreciate the support.

I really admire your work as an activist. Who’s been a role model that has had an impact on your career?

I am in such awe and gratitude towards Sylvia Rivera as a Puerto Rican and Venezuelan. As a fellow Latina, I look at her story and I weep, because this is a trans woman who had nothing, who was forced into sex work at the age of ten years old. Who was abused, and mocked, and cast aside because she was not only a woman of color, but a trans person. For those that haven’t seen her speech, I implore you to look up her “Y’all Better Quiet Down” speech at Washington Square Park.

She is someone who I say her name whenever I can. I’m such a fan of hers, and it devastates me the ways in which this community has treated her. I also really greatly appreciate Marsha P. Johnson for her tireless work in this movement. And Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, another Black trans activist who was also there for the Stonewall Rebellion.

I’m also in the Ballroom scene. I’m part of the House of Xtravaganza. I really look up to trans trailblazers like Venus Xtravaganza. I really look up to Octavia Saint Laurent, who, in 2000, when Amanda Milan was brutally murdered, partnered with Sylvia Rivera to create a protest in honor of Amanda Milan.

I’ve always noticed how Ballroom was built on activism. It was a Black, trans femme Queen like Crystal Labeija, who we have to thank for Ballroom. For creating space for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ people to showcase our talents. 

Those are the people I really look up to, admire, and hold dearly in my heart.

What should people be doing to help advocate and support, especially on International Transgender Day of Visibility?

I never want to put entirely too much pressure on my community, and I never want to demand that they do things because we’re all different. However, what I say is, if you feel compelled and safe enough to do so, go to a trans rights rally, go to an LGBTQIA+ rights rally, because what you will find there is that you are not alone.

I know precisely how easy it is to feel so alone, especially under this oppressive regime that we are living in. I know exactly how devastating and how harmful it feels to the very core of who it is that we are. Go to a trans rights rally, and you will see that you have a community of people that are rooting for you, that are rallying for you, that are supporting you. We are not alone. We are many. We have existed for centuries, and we are not going anywhere. Our voices are valid, and we need your voices now more than ever. The Trump administration is not backing down on their relentless attacks on our rights and on our identities.