On Thursday, March 9, dozens of trans youth walked out of their high schools in New York City to demand an end to anti-trans laws and to say that trans lives matter. They marched through the streets of New York City chanting “Trans lives matter,” “Queers don’t deny, Stonewall was a riot,” and more. The action ended with a speak-out by over a dozen youth who talked about the need to struggle for trans rights and to fight anti-trans rhetoric and legislation. The action was organized by NYC Youth for Trans Rights. Nurses from NYSNA attended, standing in solidarity with trans youth, as well as teachers from the MORE caucus in New York City.

Left Voice is publishing speeches by student activists about the fight for trans rights. If you are a trans youth who would like to publish a speech or an article, please contact us on Instagram or Facebook, or by emailing [email protected]

I wanna thank everyone for coming here today, for calling out of school, for walking out, for not going to work. Thank you for coming here to support this. Thank you to Raven and Celio for supporting and helping me with this whole event, and thank you to all of the volunteers. I couldn’t have done any of this without you; without you, this event probably wouldn’t have happened. Thank you to Left Voice for supporting us and helping us find organizations and being so kind. And thank you to the nurses union for supporting us as well.

I come here today to tell you that we love you — we care about you, and we want you to be OK. No matter your gender identity, no matter your pronouns, you deserve the same opportunities as everyone else. You deserve to feel just as loved and cared for as cis people. And I’m sorry if people don’t respect you, if they don’t respect your identity. You’re too good for them to treat you like that.

I come here today to tell you that the anti-trans bills that are being put out are not OK. I come here to tell you that the suicide rates for trans people being 32 percent to 50 percent is not OK. I come here as a big FUCK YOU to all the states that keep putting out bills to oppress us, as a big fuck you to all of the politicians who continue to attack our trans youth and make it harder for them to get the gender-affirming care they need to live happily. I come here to say fuck you to the police for not protecting us.

I’m sick and tired of living in a world where we trans people are seen as less than human. We need to make a change, and we need to make it soon. If we don’t, I’m positive this is going to continue to happen.

Trans people are normal.