A historic battleground: LGTBQ+ fashion from past to present

Coming back from spring break, I will be honest: I had no clue what to write for this week. However, March 31st was Transgender Day of Visibility, so I decided to lean on that to spend some time highlighting fashion icons, styling and, of course, some history. I feel like history has been much more commonplace in these articles, but for the past three years, I assume people who read this enjoy history.

For me, as someone who is nonbinary and who loves fashion, it has always been an interesting battleground. Overall, my fashion leans a lot more on the feminine side due to how I look, which is fine for most days. On days that don’t feel fine, I gravitate towards baggy clothes. I am not the only one with this either; in fact, there are plenty of guides out there for tips on how to find the clothes that fit you. A big thing for me is finding pieces you are comfortable in. Even though they are more expensive, Lucy and Yak jeans are my go-to jeans.

They have different silhouettes, are an environmentally friendly brand and are just comfortable jeans. The place where I found some useful guides is The Rainbow Stories; when looking at one of their guides that focuses on gender-neutral clothing, they mention that gender expression is outward and gender identity is inward, and they don’t always need to match. In fact, for some to stay safe, they might not always dress as their identity calls for, but this doesn’t erase this identity by any means.

While the country is constantly facing anti-trans policies daily, it seems near impossible to find any joy in the world around us. Recently, the Stonewall page from the National Park removed any mention of trans people from their page, which heavily sets back so much work that activists have done. In one of my previous articles, I mention Marsha P. Johnson, so I thought I would cover some other key trans figures in history and fashion.

Sylvia Rivera was an American gay liberation and transgender activist who took a large part in the Stonewall Riots in New York. She was also a co-founder of STAR with Marsha P. Jonson, which was a group that helped and supported gay, trans, and gender-fluid youth.

Moving out of history, Pierre Davis is a large trailblazer in fashion. She is a queer designer; she was the first Black transgender designer to debut a collection at New York Fashion Week. She is also known for her Avant-Garde aesthetics, pushing these boundaries of fashion.

Her commitment to breaking the limits set in fashion work pushes the fashion industry to blossom even more. Lastly, I will touch on two models who are becoming more well-known in the fashion world. Hunter Schafer, also known for her role on Euphoria but, has also been seen walking the runway for Alexander McQueen, Prada, and a few other houses in fashion.

Finally, Chella Man, an American actor, model, and artist, can be found on YouTube for their activism. On their YouTube channel, they explore this personal experience with gender dysphoria and their identity.

This is where I leave you, and just a reminder, hate will always exist, but so will this idea of dreaming of a better world. But that’s just coming from a little fashion writer.