In the 2010s and 2020s, trans artists moved from the margins to the mainstream. Laverne Cox graced Time magazine. Elliot Page came out and continued a major acting career. Singers like Kim Petras, Arca, and Laura Jane Grace won Grammys and critical acclaim. But this visibility is a double-edged sword. While it enriches LGBTQ culture with authentic narratives, it also makes trans people the target of a political backlash that seeks to erase them from public life.
"To the ones who came before, the ones here now, and the ones still finding their way," she toasted, her sequins catching the light. "We are the architects of our own joy." mature smoking shemales