O
wen Daniel-McCarter is a longtime activist, lawyer, and Chicagoan. As one
of the founders of the Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois and
the outgoing executive director of the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance,
Daniel-McCarter has fought for the past decade to make this city and state
a better place for trans people to live. He’s guided me and many other
Chicagoans on legal matters related to trans identity, and he’s taught me
how to build a community that works towards trans liberation. He’s leaving
Chicago for Vermont later this spring; recently he took some time to
reflect with me on his years of organizing here.
I grew up with a lot of queer people in my life. I have some recollection
of hearing that one of my childhood babysitters was transitioning and then
learning more about trans folks in college in an anthropology class. I
remember wanting to know everything about gender fluidity.
We live in a world that for the most part still doesn’t acknowledge that
trans people exist. Often conversations about who we are or what we need to
survive begin with getting cis people to acknowledge that trans people are
real. Our goal isn’t always to pass as cis people. From basic health care
to partnership, family, employment, and education—we have less power,
access, and autonomy for the sole reason that we are transgender.
