In social media post earlier today, the Transgender Assistance Program – TAP Virginia announced that Olympia Perez of Black Trans Media will be the keynote speaker at Hampton Roads’ Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) on November 20.
Olympia Perez is an Afro-Latinx Trans woman, raised in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. She is a poet, writer, healer, rapper, cosmetologist, actress, multimedia artist, and facilitator.
According to TAP Virginia’s announcement, Ms. Perez is devoted to community organizing and her mission is to dismantle all forms of oppression. She uplifts the rights and dignity of transgender and gender nonconforming people of color, particularly black trans people. She has been organizing since 2006 to end the multiple forms of violence that she and members of her community experience. As the content director of Black Trans Media, Ms. Perez works to promote the value of black transgender people through media, education, and community building.
Hampton Roads’ Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) will take place November 20 from 7-9 p.m. at Norfolk’s New Life Metropolitan Community Church (full event details are below). TDOR is produced by TAP Virginia, New Life MCC, PFLAG of Hampton Roads, ODU SAGA, LGBT Life Center and the Coastal Virginia Unitarian Universalists.
