This past June, we (Julian and Ariel) organized our efforts to bring awareness to the intersections of transition-related healthcare and long-term chronic illness-related healthcare. These topics are considered difficult even independently of one another, and with respect to the cross-over, there is very little public discussion. Julian and Ariel are both influencers who are proud to be trans and proud to be chronically ill, using their platform to share their stories and experiences with others.
June 2019 coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, an infamous and monumental event where the poorest and most marginalized people of the Greenwich Village neighborhood of NYC, trans and gay persons of color, rebelled against an unannounced police raid of the Stonewall Inn. Within weeks of the raid and rebellion, LGBTQ residents of Manhattan organized into activist groups to concentrate efforts on establishing safe harbors for non-straight and non-cis residents without fear of being harassed or even arrested. Today, we recognize not only Christopher Street Liberation Day (June 28th) as the anniversary of this event, but we memorialize and celebrate the entire month of June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month.