Transgender Allyship Collective

Developed by The Normal Anomaly Initiative, Inc. with collaborating trans-led organizations in 2019 after the untimely murder of Tracy Single, the Transgender Allyship Collective is a flagship program of the organization. It has trained hundreds of elected officials, business owners, and community members on the importance of actionable allyship to people of transgender experience.

Credit to Raquel Willis, Creator of the Black Trans Flag
#NOTANOTHERHASHTAG

This program has blossomed to define their coalition of Black transgender leadership, creating new possibility models for thriving in Houston, Texas.

This work is led by

Dr. Bec Sokha Keo

Bec Sokha is a Research Associate at the SUSTAIN Center, a funding, training and coaching center that partners with Community Based and HIV/AIDS Service Organizations in the US South to enhance trauma informed, harm reduction, mental health, and community wellness services in the context of HIV. They lead research on gender affirming organizational strategies and co-facilitate a community solidarity-language justice program. Their research goal is to achieve BIPOC TNB health equity and wellness through community lead research and public impact.

And

Joelle Espeut

Joelle Bayaa-Uzuri Espeut (she/her/hers) currently serves as Advocacy Director for The Normal Anomaly Initiative, Inc, and has worked with NASTAD, Yale, AIDS United, GLAAD, Gilead/Compass Initiative, Transgender Law Center, SUSTAIN, and CDC, and has appeared in Houston Chronicle, Outsmart Magazine and Fox26 Houston’s “Isiah Factor Uncensored”. She currently is a Board member of the Houston LGBTQ Political Caucus and allgoQPOC, and serves on the Yale CIRA community advisory board. She has worked in community advocacy for 6 years, and includes margin-to-center and liberationist framework, and economic justice as her focal areas of her advocacy. In 2023, she became a graduate of the American Express Leadership Academy, as well as a Victory Empowerment Fellow of the LGBT Victory Fund. She has been awarded the ‘Carrying The Torch’ Award at 2022’s Houston Trans Pride and the 2022 Monica Roberts Award from The Houston LGBTQ Political Caucus. In 2024, she became the female-identifying Grand Marshal for Pride Houston.

And these are our Co-researchers.

The individual and collective power and wisdom of Mya, Sasha, Byancha, Christen, Taylor, and Mikayla guide our community research. As co-researchers who are also CITI-Program trained, the women are meaningfully involved in all phases of research. This includes identifying research questions, collecting data, interpreting data, and sharing findings with the public. Through the partnership with our research collaborators at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work SUSTAIN COMPASS Coordinating Center, we have every intent to turn our community research into action through critical public impact and advocacy for justice focused change.