For the past three years or so, I’ve been living out a surgical saga. Several procedures, two different states, and many changes: Some subtle and unnoticeable, others, hard to miss (a nod to my treasured D cups, and the brilliant surgeon who placed them).

In spring 2025, The Our Fund Foundation launched Trans Voices, a recurring op-ed series designed to spotlight powerful, first-person stories from South Florida’s transgender community and the allies who stand beside them. Developed and sponsored in partnership with OutSFL, the initiative amplifies deeply personal narratives — stories of surviving suicide attempts, confronting body dysphoria, navigating fear of being targeted, and enduring the anguish of being denied equal treatment. 

Americans are living through an era fueled by discrimination. While LGBTQIA+ folx know these tactics well. Each new law chips away at our dignity, and many of our siblings believe they are “Safe” from these attacks, that they are the exception. History warns us otherwise. 

As a Black transgender woman from Miami, my life is a testimony of survival, resilience, and transformation. From childhood, I carried trauma I never asked for, molestation, rejection from family, and verbal abuse that no child should endure. As I grew older, violence became familiar: I faced guns, robberies, betrayal from loved ones, and abandonment by people I once trusted. Survival was instinct. With no safety net, I turned to sex work, hustling, and whatever means kept me alive.