Amid protests against police violence and racism earlier this summer, Ms. Amazing Head and Natalie Sanders came together to form Black Queer Lives Matter ATX in response to what they saw as a lack of Black queer and trans representation in the Black Lives Matter movement.
Through its LGBTQ Solidarity March for Black Lives and consistent presence at other protests against police brutality, BQLM ATX leadership has amplified Austin’s Black queer and trans voices in its calls for Austin’s de-policing, which is critical as trans people, especially Black trans women, continue to face anti-trans violence.
BQLM ATX arrived during a Pride Month that witnessed on a national level the LGBTQIA community’s reckoning with how it centers Black queer and trans voices, and BQLM ATX asked – and continues to ask – the same of Austin’s qmmunity. No matter how rich Austin’s tapestry of LGBTQIA organizations might be, there are still holes in that rainbow-cut cloth, and oftentimes those are the community’s most marginalized voices. BQLM ATX’s work is a call to action for all Austinites, queer or otherwise, to continue centering Austin’s Black queer and trans community.
This article appears in November 27 • 2020.