Voices of Pride: A Natural Connection

In honor of Pride Month, Jason Carrasco sits down with social justice advocate, community leader, and consultant Hector Trinidad Placencia for a thoughtful and deeply human conversation about identity, belonging, resilience, and the power of community.

Drawing from more than 15 years of experience working alongside undocumented Californians, communities of color, and transgender and queer communities, Hector shares their personal journey, the lessons they've learned through advocacy, and the importance of creating spaces where people can live authentically and be seen for who they are.

Together, Jason and Hector explore common misconceptions about transgender and queer communities, the impact of acceptance and rejection on mental health, the role of family and community support, and why healing is never a solo journey. They also discuss the intersection of immigrant rights and LGBTQ+ advocacy, the challenges facing trans communities today, and how everyday people can help create a more compassionate and inclusive world.

This episode is ultimately about something larger than labels—it's about what it means to be human, to understand ourselves, to trust our journey, and to create communities where everyone has the opportunity to find their voice.

In This Episode:

•  Understanding transgender and queer identities 
•  Mental health and belonging 
•  The importance of family and community support 
•  Advocacy, social justice, and systemic change 
•  Moving beyond fear toward understanding 
•  Trust, resilience, and personal growth 
•  What it means to create a more inclusive society 

Whether you're a member of the LGBTQ+ community, a parent, ally, clinician, or simply someone seeking greater understanding, this conversation offers wisdom, compassion, and hope for us all. 

Plascencia Consulting

https://hectorplascencia.com/

Instagram Page

https://www.instagram.com/plascenciaconsulting/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, I'm Jason Carrasco, and welcome to Finding Your Voice. I'm a licensed marriage family and child therapist and a lifelong student of human resilience. For years, I've sat with people and some of their hardest moments, moments that have challenged their identity, their spirit, and sometimes their will to keep going. One thing I've learned is that human beings can survive the unthinkable. And with support, a person's pain can become great purpose. This podcast is a home for stories about mental health, human rights, and the courage it takes to move through darkness and toward healing. In these episodes, you'll hear from survivors, clinicians, and everyday people who are brave enough to speak honestly and bold enough to use their voice. You deserve hope, you deserve healing, and you deserve to be heard. Welcome to Finding Your Voice. Let's get started. All right, everybody, welcome to another episode of Finding Your Voice. My name is Jason Carrasco. I'm a licensed marriage, family, and child therapist. And today, since it is June, we want to honor Pride Month. Now, Pride Month is about visibility, dignity, and human connection. It's about recognizing the courage it takes for many people to live authentically and the responsibility we all share in creating communities where everyone feels seen, valued, and respected. I can't think of a better person to help us have that conversation today than Hector Trinidad Placencia. Hector goes by the pronouns they, them, we, and us. Hector is a social justice action consultant, coach, facilitator, community builder, and advocate, working at the intersection of community and coalition building, public policy and advocacy and research justice. For more than 15 years, Hector has worked with and for undocumented Californians, communities of color, and transgender and queer communities. As a member of these identities, Hector offers a unique perspective and strategic approach to creating movements and social justice practices. Hector was appointed by Supervisor Solis and represents the first district of Los Angeles County. So once again, I'm extremely honored to have Hector here. And Hector, thank you so much for taking the time. I know it's been there's even a lot more great work you've done, but thank you for taking the time to be here.

SPEAKER_02 2:36

Hola, buenos dias, buenas tardes, buenas noches. Gracias for having us, Jason. We're excited to be here with you and and share everything that you know we've learned with community and happy that you've made space for us during Pride Month so that we can continue to build connections and community.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yeah, most definitely. And I also I believe that you have your own, I want to make sure to give credit to it. You have your own social justice action firm right now, correct?

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Correct, yes. We we play quite a few roles. Uh one of them we do serve as a commissioner and within the inaugural LGBTQ commission of LA County. Uh, we actually served as chair for the first year and are proud of what we are building there. Uh, we also join have our own consulting firm, Placencia Consulting, uh, that we've had for more than 10 years now. And this is really a space where we're able to support organizations, nonprofits, businesses, and government, create social justice efforts and advancements within our spaces, whether that be with community, within our systems and institutions. There really is a rethinking and reimagining that we are creating uh together in being able to hold our our humanity while working within these systems. So we're able to support that, those transformations uh within Blasencia Consulting. And more recently, we are the president of a newly formed organization, Trans Queer Institute. Uh, we actually started this organization with our wife, Camila Cameleon. It's our baby, it's what we've uh birthed together to be able to continue to expand the work within this intersection of trans and queer rights and immigrant advocacy within this organization across California. It's Leadership Academy. We're launching our first academy, the TGI Academy, Transgender, Gender Expansive Intersex Academy, right here in the San Gabriel Valley. It's a lot of great work that we're excited to be a proud of, proud to share and grow the work together.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

Wow, phenomenal. Hector, when do you rest with all this work that you do?

SPEAKER_02 5:03

Everyone's busy, Jason. Everyone's busy.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

You know, we are very grateful that we get to do this work and able to intersect a very humane experience of being able to create change, protect each other, create access while also being able to build community and really create the world that we live in. We we get really excited about that.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

Yeah. So what first inspired you to become an advocate for the trans and queer community? Let's go back a little bit. What what was your inspiration to get into this work?

SPEAKER_02 5:45

You know, Jason, necessity. It it was first necessity. First and foremost, we are an immigrant to the United States, and we started our advocacy and social justice work being and living as an immigrant, the challenges of higher education, finding work, protections, and having access, being able to go to the hospital. So there's a lot of campaigns that we were able to work with and advance uh nationally and here in California for immigrant rights. And, you know, after coming out to ourselves, first as queer and then later shared that we're trans, it's there's a lot of parallels, there's a lot of intersections. A lot of what we build within the immigrant rights uh movement is also what we're building within the our trans and queer movement. In many ways, we're also starting from scratch because entire generations have died, you know, deliberately within our community. So we've lost a lot of community and a lot of what has also been built. So being able to recreate that while also recognizing that it's it's not that different as well from what various marginalized and targeted groups are are also experiencing. It's unique in the sense that it's very much heightened during this time and deliberately targeted at what we've we've never seen before. Therefore, it needs much more attention.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Yeah, absolutely. Who has been your biggest support while doing this, while doing this work?

SPEAKER_02 7:33

We are very fortunate to be able to have family support. It's actually unfortunately, it is often a rare or sometimes seen as a privilege within trans and queer communities to have family support. We have parents and family that have deliberately and continue to deliberately work on themselves so that they are well informed, better people, can understand themselves well enough to allow me to be myself.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing that you have that support. What do you think are some of the biggest misconceptions that people have about trans and queer individuals? You know, as as you've gone along this work, what are some of the biggest misconceptions you've seen?

SPEAKER_02 8:31

First, we'd like to share who are trans and queer people.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Yes, yeah, please.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

Oh, and so that is an understanding. There's there's a lot of letters, you know. Now we're saying trans and queer, and folks are used to LGBTQ or LGBTQ IA to S. So when you hear LGBTQ, LGBTQ IA to S plus, that is essentially a combination of our entire community. And our entire community is a combination of gender, sex, and sexuality minorities. So all combined together. So when you split those up, you know, folks are commonly uh familiar with sexuality, which is lesbian, gay, bisexual, and pansexual, and also queer. This is who we love, who we are attracted to. The other letters, uh, generally T G I, transgender, gender expansive intersex, this is who we are. Gender and sex is who we are. And gender, sex, and sexuality applies to every single human being. Uh, we all experience gender, sex, and sexuality. Uh, members of the LGBTQIA 2S plus community are uh commonly known as minorities within these categories. So trans and queer are being elevated to be able to recognize that when we say trans, we're saying people that are essentially not cisgender. And when we say queer, we're essentially saying people that are not straight. If you're not cisgender and you're not straight, that's how we also want to simplify your understanding of community. If you're not straight, then we want you to be able to understand what that means for you. If you're not cisgender, we want you to be able to understand what that means for you. It can mean various things, and there are various, I guess, titles or categories where you fall within that. And very simply, if you're not straight and you're not cisgender, you're you're going to want to give space to that. You're going to want to explore that and understand that within yourself so that can help you learn what you want, what you need with within the life that you have here. And understanding that within yourself is the biggest step, uh, often, you know, this internal step that a lot of people fear. Our biggest misconception and really controversial take here is that where you're actually not a minority. If you consider the people that are solely straight, and maybe there's we find something attractive, someone attractive, someone that maybe we're told that we're not supposed to be attracted to. People find fear in that. People find as if, you know, within themselves, and then they begin to fear themselves. And what they do is they project that. Instead of understanding that within themselves, they take it out on other people and the people around them. And so that's why the people that are living openly within themselves and, you know, in public as trans and queer. That that's why people feel that it's so brave, you know, because they, if you're doing it themselves, it speaks to actually how prevalent it is. You know, people consistently say that it's a choice. They're speaking about themselves, they're choosing not to share who they are in many ways and explore what that means for them. So within this pride season and all year long, you know, it's really an invitation for you to be able to understand what that means for you. And if you're if you know that part of you is not solely straight, part of you is not solely cisgender, it's an invitation to really dive deeper into what start there, what what that means for you. Beyond beyond anyone else, being able to understand, accept, and eventually come to a place of love for yourself, with within that, that's that's the biggest blessing that you can really really extend to yourself.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Yeah, like you said, I imagine this takes so much courage, you know, for a person to identify, understand, and and respect who they truly, truly are from their inner being, uh as opposed to what society says, you know, somebody, somebody should be, right? Which usually society things are sometimes just a simple little checkbox, right? That people want to tend to put things in, but that's that's not the that's not the reality. We're all we're all unique, we're all individuals, and it's up for every person to identify, understand, and and respect and be able to be true to who they are. So like you said, I imagine there's a lot of fear that can take place for people, but then at the same time, there's an extreme amount of of courage that I just want to give light to as well. I I have a little little side question here, Hector. I hope it's okay, but what is the best way? What is the best way for somebody who is not familiar with addressing somebody in this community to inquire about how I should best respect you? I should best kind of like refer to you, right? Like when it comes to say the pronouns or this podcast is for a lot of you know, people, everyday people, right? And there's a lot of people who are still trying to understand, still trying to be respectful. I'm still trying to be respectful. Do you know what I mean? So what what's kind of the best way to maybe inquire about somebody or address if you're uncertain?

SPEAKER_02 14:52

See, gracias, Jason. You're you're doing it now, you know, and you and you model it very well. Two very simple things ask and try throughout all of our interactions. That would that's what we feel and we understand from you and we appreciate it so much. Very few people actually ask, and very few people actually try. You know, there's this there's a resistance that that exists uh from trying because of this perception of perfection that uh people assume we we hold as a community. We don't remember saying that, you know, and and we apologize if at any at any point, you know, you were drawn away from from feeling connected to to community because it's it's far from from what we want and from what we're actually asking for. We're actually ask asking for a closer connection with everyday people. So that even much more simpler than than an acceptance is is an allowance, you know, an allowance to to be and exist in everyday life. The two simple behaviors of being able to ask and being able to try, that combination is is really the golden ticket to having these very uh simple ways of being able to uh gradually build connection with each other. So gracias for everyone that's asking. Uh, just like you've modeled, Jason. You know, what are what are your pronouns? What are what do you prefer? What's your what's your gender? And uh one recommendation that we do have is is to the remove the word identify. You know, we don't identify, we are we are women, we are man, we are transgender, we are whatever someone tells you that they are, that's who that's who they are, and also who we are also changes, you know. So know that. So if at one point I was she and now I am they we, you know, that's also your invitation to recognize that you have the ability to transition, create changes. It is a human experience to be different people within one lifetime.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:12

And trans people are a reminder of that. It's it's not, it's more so an invitation for for you to be able to allow for the transitions to also carry out in your life.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Excellent. Thank you for putting that so eloquently. And everybody, I so I said identify earlier, so I remove all those identifies I said, everybody, okay? I I take take that out. I'm not gonna be able to edit them out, but I take them out. So no, no, no, thank you for appreciating that. Yeah, thank you for that. Thank you for that education, Hector. So important, so important.

SPEAKER_02 17:53

For being willing to practice it, Jason.

SPEAKER_00 17:56

Yeah, absolutely. What narratives about the trans community do you find most helpful at this time?

SPEAKER_02 18:05

What we've been saying as uh everyday people, everyday people stories, everyday people narratives, everyday people existence in in public life. It's it's already happening. It's it's always happened and and will continue to happen. And what's also helpful is beyond you you also mentioned earlier, you know, this moving beyond these narratives of of bravery and courage, and moving more towards these narratives of gifts and offerings. For example, our understanding of being able to transition as humans, our understanding that sexuality and attraction is actually very common and fluid, you know, in in everyday people for everyday people. So once we understand that, you know, we guess we are a heightened reminder of that. Our our presence is our heightened reminder of that. And it it's also bringing up something that exists within you. So it there's a connection there that is being misunderstood, that can really be essentially softened and reconnected through this understanding of similarities in this ways, of recognizing that we all transition, recognizing that we all hold these complex inner beings of who we are and what we want. And once people allow that within themselves, we find that they allow trans and queer people to be themselves as well.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

Yeah. In terms of acceptance, what does it mean to feel seen and accepted for who you are?

SPEAKER_02 20:03

Gracias, Jason. Exactly that. If if you allow me to be, it means that you are at peace with yourself. You know, so it is really very much an awareness and of knowing of that you're also in some way have we recognize okay. Let's let's back up and share, you know, within the the trans experience, a queer experience of being able to live this publicly, essentially, and out loud in various ways, does take a lot of in-depth processing and engagement with yourself to be able to recognize that there's a truth within you that the world is not either not allowing to be and is also not recognizing in various ways. And in many instances is also creating unnecessary violence around. So that what that does is it allows for an awakening to take place within you. It is a process that you begin to engage in to move towards this recognition of self and being able to share it with others. And so this process also allows you to recognize that this is not something that everyone is doing. Not everyone is sitting with themselves and is reflecting on their their thoughts, their behavior, their their what they want and what they need as a human within their internal world, how that is being either supported or rejected externally. It's essentially a tension and a conflict that that is taking place uh within you. And being able to really resolve and restore all of that is this process also allows you to grow in various ways.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

And for yourself and an understanding of the world around you. And if you are able to be around trans and queer people, and something troubling isn't happening within you, then that is an indicator that this is a process that you have engaged with and in some way have have understood and are at peace with. That is, you know, the entire human journey within itself. And it is reflected externally in this again, this allowance of allowing other people to be. And so this this acceptance, it's more is is more so a recognition.

SPEAKER_00 23:29

Yeah, so it takes so what I'm hearing is the amazing internal work that needs to be done by individuals as they go through this process, again, in terms of understanding on such a deeper level who they are. I also have seen some of some of the other side, you know, too as well. As a mental health clinician, in the past, I've worked with the with a handful of clients that either were in the process of transitioning or there were, you know, there was some depression due to not feeling that acceptance from both society and at times their loved ones that caused a lot of devastation, a lot of depression. What have you learned about mental health from from members of the trans and queer community?

SPEAKER_02 24:31

And I said, Jason, see that since be because this is a process in which one, not maybe folks are not familiar with, and also two, maybe folks aren't aren't willing to move into that process. Whether it's will or desire, there it's important to connect with people that are experiencing that, that have experiencing that. There's a lot of misconceptions around this mental health conversation and what trans and queer people experience. It's it's more so the conflict that people create for trans and queer people that creates the mental health turmoil. You know, we are telling you that that we're different and and we don't maybe we don't understand that and and we're here to explore that. And you know, there's people in our life that want that to go away, that want that to not be true, that want that to not exist, and and telling us that we're wrong. And all of these things that is them versus being able to again create create space for this exploration and understanding of I'm not straight, I'm not cisgender. And that's what creates a lot of the mental health turmoil that you there's this truth and knowing that you have about yourself, I'm not straight, I'm not cisgender. And the world is telling you otherwise. And so it's consistently fighting with you in all of these ways versus allowing you to understand that at a at a much deeper, deeper identity, you know, being able to have this recognition of well, well, you know what? That's actually very common. There's more than two genders. You know, let's explore what other genders also exist that that you are uh may feel aligned with. Because not a lot of education exists, that's sometimes why this takes so long. Yeah, being able to have education around who trans and queer people are. It's getting harder and harder to find a book these days. Right. You know, it's getting harder and harder to take a class. It's it's getting harder and harder to even say the word out loud. So that doesn't mean we go away. It means it means we take longer. It may take longer for our our youth to be able to find the words to understand, I'm not straight, I'm not cisgender.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:19

You know, and where they fit within that. And so there's a lot of people that are not straight and are not and are not cisgender, and the variations within LGBTQIA2A plus are saying, you know, find yourself with with within these. If you're not straight and you're not cisgender, you may find your place here, you know, and and people begin to explore that within within community for regarding mental health. There's so much that is really learned within community through word of mouth, through, through experience, because we we have to live it to to actually actually know. You know, when when we first came out to our our mother, you know, she said, well, we'll just kiss someone so you know, you know. I said, I think I I maybe at at the time, you know, living as a muheed as as a young girl, I said, I think I may like girls, and you know, was just crying and devastated at the time. And she said, Well, go kiss a girl, you know, and find find out what what that means for you. And so it's a common experience and often one that we also want to be able to protect for trans and queer youth. And that and that's a huge focus that that is also needed.

SPEAKER_00 28:49

I know that there's so many organizations now, there's so many kind of different places that individuals can go to maybe seek support, maybe ask for help, get mental health services, do things that can help you know them with their mental health if they're struggling with that. Is there anything else that you recommend to to the youth or or even to adults as well, too, to be able to take care of their mental health? What are what are some of the things that you recommend?

SPEAKER_02 29:24

It's not a solo act. Your mental health is not a solo act, even though it is an internal personal experience, it is it is not a solo act. You need people, you need to talk to people, you need to see people, you need to go outside and sit out sit outside with people. It's you you need human connection, you need to see other trans and queer people living their life and existing as everyday people as well, and make them your friends and your mentors, femors. That building of community is your mental health practice. One one aspect of it. Part of it is your reflection, your journaling, your processing, and significant component of it, significant component of it is communal and collective.

SPEAKER_00 30:27

Yeah, I I love that. And that's part of the, you know, I think part of the mission of this podcast. One of the things I say in the on the introduction of it, you know, is that healing happens in community. And like you're saying, for for people to find the the communities that can surround them, that can love them, that they can be a part of, that they can feel accepted, all of those things. So yeah, so thank you for for bringing that up.

SPEAKER_02 30:54

Gracias. One of the one of one of the reasons why we we loved living as a young lady, as a woman, was because of women's circles. Because we actually learned very much how to care for people in women's spaces. And that is very much a blessing that that carries out into who we are today as presenting masculine and and often passing as male. And it's a practice that is needed, you know, regardless of gender. It's it's the practice of being able to bring people together in a circle to talk and release whatever you're holding, whatever you're thinking. Someone there may have already lived it, have some words of wisdom for you, and and we're there to hold hold that for each other. We we hear you about what what you're doing here with the podcast as well, and that being your heart and your intention is as well, Jason. And so we've we know that we feel that here as well. Very much a space of being able to come come in circle and learn from each other. So gracias. Yeah. Uh your your own space of healing.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Thank you. Yeah, continuing with you know mental health a little bit. When how how do people maintain hope, you know, if they feel misunderstood or or targeted?

SPEAKER_02 32:26

See, Jason, so the word hope is kind of funny and can can be really can turn people off often. We find that sometimes the word hope or faith has really been triggering. We find that the word hope or faith has really actually brought about negative feelings for people. And we invite people to consider the word trust. If if you're having a tough time with hope, if you're having a tough time with faith, uh, we invite you to to trust. Trust yourself, trust community, trust your circle, trust that something will be done, trust that something will be created. That's externally. Trust that other people are creating and conspiring to to heal and protect the world, and also trusting in yourself that you must too act in being able to create that. And often hope when when you're targeted and misunderstood, what this can do is paralyze you in various ways. Paralyze your imagination, your willing, your willingness to try. You know, that's where some of that resistance comes from. We are in various ways, we are being told that things are not gonna change and things are always going to be this way, and that's really the misunderstanding of why we are here. Yeah, yeah, that's that's a misunderstanding of of of why we are here. We understand that we are here to create and be, to be and create this floricanto uh that we understand as you know as as a Mexican and indigenous person of floricanto, indigenous practices of we are here to be, and we're here to create. So, first be. If you're not straight, you're not such gender, we invite you to be yourself. This this pride month and all year long and to create. You're creating this beautiful space here, this practice, this podcast, your practice, you're creating a world in which we are allowing other people to be and create as well. Similarly, that is our objective within our organizations, within our service work, within our relationships. We are creating relationships, healthy relationships, loving relationships, in addition to systems and practices and habits. That and trusting that we will continue to do that, trusting myself to believe that that is a practice that I will continue to maintain and hold, trusting that other people also want to create and protect people with me and building around that. So this I'll to say that this hope is more action-based than this in internal feeling. It's more so this we we need you to have that internal feeling move you towards an action in which you are practicing and living what you're meant here to do.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

Yeah, and I I can imagine that a lot of the people that are doing, as you had mentioned, the the targeting and and the things, you know, acting negatively towards people of the trans and queer communities are are people that are full of fear, that lack the understanding, you know, maybe the education, the knowledge, whatever it is, right? There's a there's a lot of things taking place for them. What do you think people are actually afraid of when they react negatively to trans or or queer identities?

SPEAKER_02 36:52

themselves.

SPEAKER_00 36:55

Talk more about that.

SPEAKER_02 36:57

Very happy to elaborate and very simply put, you're afraid of yourself. And we see this, we see this consistently reflected in in in various spaces. There is this also this misunderstanding of power, what it is, what it's for, why people have it, and and misuse of power. So when when we hear you say, you know, there's there's folks that either don't have the misunderstanding, the education, and it's it's it's one thing to be able to work with that understanding in in our relationships, and you know, people that are in our are in our everyday life, and we are invested in their growth. It's another thing when we're talking about that type of harm in systems, because it's understanding, we are beyond understanding at that point when it comes to systems and the level of financial and systemic power that is being held by immigration customs enforcement and our current administration, it is beyond understanding and simply must be stopped and won't be stopped until people in power are removed. And that's where the focus needs to be. And it's, you know, if you have someone, for example, that's a nice agent within your interpersonal life and you're invested in their growth and their willingness, and that's that's where your work is, your your education, your your interpersonal relationships. There's there's a different approach. Your interpersonal relationships and in which you are investing in people that that you see and engage with every day. It's it's different. Just like it's different when you're working with community-based groups and the approach in which you have in caring for and and growth in those spaces, it's it's different than a direct political action targeting your existence. It simply must be stopped, and we need everyone's help to do it. So I just really want to make those distinctions because it's it's a far greater force than simple simple education and an understanding as far as where we at. We are at heightened levels of genocide for transgender people in the United States.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

Excellent. I I love the way you put that. And I like how you're talking about getting into the advocacy and the social change that needs to continue to happen. And I know, I mean, as as we talked about in the intro, you've done so much work in terms of advocacy, so much great work. And you know, that's that's what your life is dedicated to. So what does effective advocacy look like today? What are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_02 40:10

You know, when we look at historically at LGBTQ movements and where we are now within, you know, trans and queer liberation, we really need all hands on deck. And we saw this really move very effectively when we experienced the AIDS epidemic within our LGBTQ communities that were experienced uh predominantly by gay men. And what we really saw, uh many many uh people may not know this, but the reason the L is first within LGBTQ, IA2S plus, is because lesbians came together to really create systems, infrastructures of care and advocacy to be able to protect gay men, defend advance uh protections and medical care and research for for this epidemic that was that was taking place within our community. And so, in recognition, the L is first to recognize uh lesbians in their power in response in this crisis time of need. We have yet to see this for trans people. And we also trust that it is on its way. We understand that there is a connection that needs to be understood, made, uh, fostered or restored for many people in order for this to happen. It was very innate for the LGBTQ community to respond to what was happening to gay men. Uh, we're taught to care for men, sis then naturally within you know our existence under patriarchy. And there's a connection that we we need we need there to to come so that uh people understand how they are connected to to what's happening to transgender people and their and the need to respond. We are under crisis and it's and it's getting harder and harder to to to defend each other.

SPEAKER_00 42:42

Yeah. What challenges do you think still need more attention at our current time?

SPEAKER_02 42:51

It's really this intersection of trans and immigrant rights. Immigration because of tightening rates, kidnappings, abductions, uh disappearings that are happening every day, and the the targeting and gradual genocide of of transgender people in the United States. It needs more more attention and uh all hands on deck. We invite people to intersect these issues with the issues that they are already fighting for. So, for example, our our wife works in the world of reproductive justice, and the reproductive justice advocacy world is intersecting reproductive justice with trans rights because both of them are at the intersection of bodily autonomy and being able to own our bodies. The understanding of us being able to own our bodies, make decisions about our bodies, that is something that is common both within transgender people and cisgender women and is. A and is also an issue for cisgender men in being able to also adopt it as an issue of their own. So as those intersections, we also see that more people are able to come into the work as well.

SPEAKER_00 44:21

Amazing. And amazing work that your wife does as well, too. It sounds like. All right, shifting shifting the conversation a little bit, what moments in your work have stayed with you the most? We've talked about some of the amazing work that you've done. So what maybe are a couple of the moments that that have really, you know, you've you've held on to in your heart?

SPEAKER_02 44:45

Gracias, Jason. You know, all of the work is really with the intent that this is transforming people's lives in in various ways. And so if if it's okay, we'd like to share a personal story that that does have to do with our wife. Please, yes, please share. Our wife, our wife Camila, is actually well, well, first, she's also the CFO of our organization, Transquer Institute. And she's also the policy director for California Latinas for Reproductive Justice. And so we are intentional about creating a personal life that is caring, loving, and protective of transgender people. So Camila has a trend twin brother, Daniel, who is straight and cisgender. And one of the moments that has stayed with us the most is when his wife, he's actually married and actually uh just gave birth to the new baby, Sage.

SPEAKER_01 45:53

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 45:54

With his wife C.

SPEAKER_01 45:56

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 45:56

And we're all very excited to to welcome baby Caby Sage. And C shared a story with us when we we all first met, and this is this is Daniel's wife. She said, you know, when I first met Daniel on our first date, Daniel told me and asked me, are how do you feel about transgender people? Are you okay? My my family is transgender. I have I have a sister, that twin sister that's transgender, and and I love her and she's very important to me. And in order for us to be together, I need you. You need to be okay with that. And that and from that first day, you know, and that always stayed with me because it's just it's it's just how it needs to be. And and that's really what we need as transgender people. We need people in our corner, we need people that are very proudly and deliberately going to say, if, if that's a problem in some way, then I can't have you in my life. And this is the same thing that her best friend did on a first date. Oh on her first date, she said, she asked them, What are your thoughts on transgender people? What are how how do you feel? What is what does that bring up for you? And and told them, My best friend is transgender, and in order for me to date you, that I need you to understand, and I I essentially I need you to go through that process, you know, I need you to do your work, and I need you to grow in this way in order to be in my life. And so those are two examples of beautiful people that my wife has in her life, and we have in our life that just the very first day, and it's the very first thing. And there's and there's no question about it. This is this is where we where we stand. And and in order to come into my life, essentially I need you to be better. And so that's something that we've also seen in both of our mothers, my wife's mother and my mother, who have, you know, also lost some relationships uh because of their stance and loving their their transgender children. Stories that we also hear from queer parents, queer grandmother once shared with us that our family no longer talks to us and we're not invited to the family parties because I love my nephew. And so now I hang out with my nephew. And so this it is this behavior that creates mental health turmoil for trans and queer people. And so if folks are interested in being able to support in in these ways, that's that's part of where everyday people in their home can can practice the these very we want to say simple because we want it to say be simple and we understand also how it can be made to not be simple.

SPEAKER_01 49:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:08

So as simple as you can make it, be up be upfront about about where you stand. So those are moments that that really stand out where people are clear about about loving and protecting trans people.

SPEAKER_00 49:24

Yeah, yeah. Thank you so much for sharing those personal stories. Absolutely, absolutely beautiful. Speaking, speaking of, you know, you were sharing about family there and your experience with with family and and how that took place. If their parents listening to this, what do you wish that they maybe knew if their child were were to come out to them?

SPEAKER_02 49:50

See that uh that it's not about you.

SPEAKER_00 49:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 49:55

That it it's we understand it's your seed, it's your it's it's part of you, it's you know, your we understand it's your child and it and and it also has nothing to do with you. It has nothing to do with you.

SPEAKER_00 50:12

Yeah, I like that. So true. What about for every young trans or queer p person? What do you what do you wish that they could hear today?

SPEAKER_02 50:28

Learn yourself. Just learn learn yourself, be curious about yourself, get to know yourself, learn how to be honest with yourself, learn how to understand what you want and need, and you know, so that you can eventually get to a place where where you share that with others and communicate that. And eventually it's really about creating an environment for you where where you're happy.

SPEAKER_00 50:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:56

And all of that really comes with you first learning who you are, what you want, and building the people around you to create that. So learn yourself.

SPEAKER_00 51:09

Yeah. And and thank you for for saying that. And again, that that goes back to, you know, the importance of finding finding that community that you can connect with, that you can, you know, relate to. If it's, you know, maybe connecting with a therapist that could be helpful for you as well. Too. If there are other just educational resources that you can use, just yeah, just do everything you can. I I agree, Hector, with learning and and about yourself. And in terms of we're we're getting close to the end here. I I want I'm thinking about kind of some big picture stuff again. How do we create a society where people can be different without being feared? Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_02 52:01

You know, that's the challenge.

SPEAKER_00 52:05

Yeah, I think I think we'll both get elected for president if we come up with the answer to that one, right? Yes, definitely. No pressure, Hector. No pressure with this question right here.

SPEAKER_02 52:16

No, no, no, not at all. And you know, we also want to also recognize the the boundary that exists within this question. You know, whether someone fears something or someone or not is is very much a personal journey. And where we hope people make the distinction is their personal journey versus collective harm. You know, there's a discernment that we need to have as human beings when it comes to what's a fear, misunderstanding, and unknowing and unwillingness versus a a deliberate harm. And this is why one of the blessings that we understand as to us living and learning as a woman for for 35 years, it wasn't until we were 35 until we shared that that was trans and started to transition. So it's really been the majority of our lives where we learned that as a cisgender woman, we learned the experience of you if even though you're you're sad, you're angry, you're frustrated, you know, consistently being minimized, underminded, lied to, neglected, denied, all of these everyday things that women experience, they don't they don't create violence. They don't create this collective dominance and violence around their inner turmoil. They get curious about it, they talk about it, they try to understand it, they seek to define it and resolve what is happening internally so that they don't cause external harm.

SPEAKER_00 54:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:25

And it's so beautiful and un and an unrecognized power that cisgender men have yet to even see, yeah, uh often of just you don't create violence and this around ego. It is a growth, a huge growth opportunity, and at this point a necessity for us to be able to protect each other.

SPEAKER_00 55:06

Yeah, beautifully put. And you know, the reality is that fear fear just fucks everything up, Hector. It really does.

SPEAKER_02 55:21

It does, it does, it does. And we've also learned that the thought of it oftentimes is much greater than the actual experience.

SPEAKER_00 55:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 55:46

When we thought about everything that we were going to lose if we share that we're queer, that we're trans. The thought was always much greater than than the experience. Not to say it wasn't hard, not to say I didn't lose people, not to say there wasn't there wasn't conflict, grief. It's it's more so we actually thought it would be worse. And that there wouldn't there wouldn't be love, there wouldn't be care, there wouldn't be protection, and it's actually the the opposite. We feel much more cared for and protected because we are honest, and we were actually much more fearful in in hiding.

SPEAKER_00 56:55

Wow, and that's powerful, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:58

And that is where the awakening in this process takes starts to rumble and and and develop. So if that's something that you're feeling within yourself in listening to this podcast, it's it's it's very beautiful. And it's it's very much a gift to be able to be and know the world beyond what you're told it is.

SPEAKER_00 57:36

Yeah, because it's so much more than what we're told it is. So I I I really appreciate how you how you put that. All right, Hector, we just have a couple questions here. We're almost we're almost at the finish line already. And this this time has gone on gone by quick. I mean, we I think we've we've yeah, I think I think we've touched upon it a little bit, or or you have, I mean, in in a lot of beautiful ways, but what has this work taught you about being human?

SPEAKER_02 58:11

You know, my wife and I have this joke of like we're human. Because, you know, there's there's there's so much that we want to do, there's there's so many places that we want to be, and so many people we want to see and and build with. And this this piece about being being human is similarly to the approach to to mental health, you know, it's it's not a solo act. Being human is very much about being connected and having relationships and and creating with others outside of yourself. So being human has it has very much taught us that we we need people and and people need us, and there's there's comfort in knowing that we're able to protect and create with each other in in this life that we're given. Yeah, a lot of blessings beyond the turmoil.

SPEAKER_00 59:15

Yeah, absolutely. And and you also brought up that you liked trust better as opposed to hope, correct?

SPEAKER_01 59:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 59:25

So I wanna I wanna kind of reframe or redo this question. So instead of what gives you hope right now, where do you trust that your advocacy work can can go?

SPEAKER_02 59:47

We trust that cis men like you, Jason, will continue to have personal and collective awakenings to what is happening and the role that they play in everyday life and systemic power to shift it. We know that cis men know better. We have been in your circles.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:28

That's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:29

Our uh this transition has allowed us uh to uh be in spaces and in conversations where there are cis men thinking about how to be able to do different stand up for trans people, create different structures of protections, and that is where it is it is very much needed because we know muheres have been holding it down, trans queer people have have been holding it down. And so we are we trust that this this transition and awakening for first gender men is really going to collectively move us all forward. So it's time for us to hold it down.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:22

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:22

Well we trust in the work that you're you're doing, the spaces you're creating, and uh the impact that you're having.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:30

Nice. All right, Hector. So I have before we wrap up, I always ask the same four last questions to every every person. You only need to have like a one-sentence, two-sentence response. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:45

Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:45

But I always ask these four questions to everybody that I talk to. If somebody was listening to this podcast right now and they feel powerless, right? Powerless over the situation that they're in and it's causing them to struggle, what would you say to them? Somebody feels powerless. Ooh, you're wrong. Excellent. You're wrong. Great response. What's one thing an everyday person can do to make a real impact? Try.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:26

Yes. Try, try, try, and what whatever that looks like for you in whatever area of your life, pick something. You want to work on you want to work on your racism. You know, try try shifting your thoughts, try shifting your language, try shifting your behavior. You want to work on your sexism, try shifting your thoughts, try shifting your behavior, try shifting your comments.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:55

Yeah. Excellent.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:57

Everyday things.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:00

We've all been through our own struggles, right? Through our own pain, traumas, different things that we've experienced. Who did you become because some of the pain that you've lived through?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:15

I became my grandfather. Literally named myself after him. Trini Das is our grandfather from our dad's side, and our family calls him Trini, Papa Trini. And I knew that if I wanted to be masculine person that I wanted to be, then I needed to become him.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:43

Nice. Nice. And I love that. You're honoring your ancestors, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:48

Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:49

Honoring, honoring your ancestors. That's what it's that's what it's about. Remembering and honoring.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:54

See, before he before he passed, actually had him on video chat and told him that I named myself after him. So I did get a chance to tell him before.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:06

What was the response? What was the response?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:09

Excited and honored.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:10

Yeah, I was gonna say, I imagine he must have been really proud. See, he was he was excited, really happy.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:19

Remember the smile on his face when we told him.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:22

All right, last one. What do you want your legacy to be? And not your career, but your soul's work. What do you want your legacy to be?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:38

A loving family member.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:43

See, we're Mexican. We have uh a lot of family. It it always fluctuates, and and we're we're the oldest. And so they are all our children. And yeah, we're we're consistently caring for for our sisters and and their children or my children. And so there's a lot of a lot of family that that we care for and are responsible for and are grateful for.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:13

Yeah. Well, Hector, thank you so much for your time, your thoughtfulness, your sharing, you know, of of both your your advocacy, the work that you do, but also your your knowledge, and you know, just your insight and who you are as a human is something truly, truly special. And I just, you know, have I really enjoyed this time with you. I hope we can reconnect at some time in the future again.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:51

See, I can't do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:52

You also you also have this person being me in your corner. If there's anything you need, you let me know, I'll be there. And I'd be honor, I'd be honored to be there. Where can last thing, where can people find you if they're interested in learning more about you, if they want to, you know, they're interested in your work or consulting. What are the places they can go?

SPEAKER_02 1:06:19

See, gracias. Uh so if you'd like more information about the work that we're building through the Transqueer Institute, we are a leadership academy for social justice scholars. Uh, visit us at transqueerinstitute.org or follow us on Instagram at Transqueer Institute. We're also here to support you and your work in being able to engage in social justice and create a difference in these intrapersonal and systemic ways within your organization, business, and government. Uh, you can find us lasenciaconsulting.org.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:57

All right, amazing. Hector Trinidad, once again. Once again, thank you so much for your time, spirit, your energy. Truly appreciated. And everybody, we want to thank you for joining another episode of Finding Your Voice. Gracias. Buenas noches.