Nearly a thousand people gathered outside Trump Tower in downtown Chicago on Friday to rally for transgender rights.
Protestors condemned the Trump administration’s decision to rollback protections for transgender students, a directive introduced by President Obama.
According to the , activists chanted “Trans lives matter,” “Protect trans youth,” and “We’re here, we’re genderqueer, we’re fabulous, don’t (expletive) with us”.
The protest was organised by the Trans Liberation Collective, a movement aimed at the “radical empowerment and liberation for all trans people and communities”.
Stephanie Skora from the collective spoke at the rally and said it was imperative that trans voices were heard.
Skora decried the “heinous actions of the presidential administration in targeting trans students, who are some of the most vulnerable members of our community".
“Here in Chicago, this direct attack on our trans siblings will not go unanswered,” Skora continued.
“We will take to the streets, and loudly, proudly, and fiercely make our voices heard as we struggle for our own liberation, and the liberation of all oppressed peoples!”
Skora also read out the names of transgender people who have been murdered in the US this year: Mesha Caldwell, Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow, Jojo Striker, Jaquarrius Holland, Keke Collier, Chyna Doll Dupree, Ciara McElveen, and Sean Hake.
