2020 has been an incredibly difficult for the T in LGBTQ. This year has been the deadliest on record for the transgender community where at least 34 transgender or gender non-conforming people have been murdered by violent means in the United States alone.
Millions of us honored those and many more who lost their lives over senseless acts on Transgender Day of Remembrance on Friday, November 20.
As tough as its been we need to “Be Optimistic” about our future. That is a message Drag Race alum Peppermint along with sensational music acts Mila Jam and Lafemmebear has preached in their music video of the same name that dropped during Transgender Awareness Week.
“The number of transgender people who’ve been murdered is higher than ever recorded,” Peppermint said in relation to her anthem. “In the midst of senseless murders of black folks, in the midst of the division and the pandemic. After seeing everything that has happened in our country and our world lately and coming up on the holidays, I wanted to gather black Trans women to put out a message of solidarity and love while simultaneously shedding light on the important road ahead.”
“Be Optimistic” is a gorgeous remake of “Optimistic” by Sound of Blackness and is something that all involved were happy to be apart of. “Working with my sisters is Trans Joy,” Mila said. “We are able to share our love & passion for music in support of being our beautiful selves. The world needs to see our optimism. Our wins. Our unity.”
“When I hear Black Lives Matter, I envision a collective of non-monolithic voices, and experiences equally being amplified,” Lafemmebear also chimed in.
We chatted with Broadway star and all-around wonderful soul Peppermint in an exclusive interview recently where she gave some inspiring advice to any young queer person that wants to come out of the closet.
“You need to come out in your own time, if you are closeted and queer, you can find a community, and a place to feel safe, you can reach out to someone in the community, especially with the internet, there are places you can reach out to,” she said. “I know a lot of the centers are doing outreach work. There is no specific way to be gay or trans, there is only one way to be yourself, and you are right on time and doing it the right way.”