Bonnie Violet Quintana is tired of hearing about how terrible it is to be trans in Idaho. She knows it can be — she grew up in southern Idaho and had to move away to bring her trans identity into full focus. But she also knows what can happen when there’s space to feel joy, which is exactly what she hopes to accomplish with Friday evening’s trans march, which will unofficially kick off Pride weekend at 5:30 p.m. at 8th and Jefferson Streets.
What makes this march the first of its kind?
“Obviously this is not the first time that there’s been a march for trans people in Idaho. But this is the first time that we’re doing an Idaho Trans March on Pride weekend, and it’s going to be annual, and it’s not a political march. So that’s what makes it the first. I’ve been trying to figure out … how to own that, but also not alienate others who have been doing the work for years. [O]ur hope is that the march is just the beginning. We really want the trans march to be more of a trans pride, so that we begin to focus more about the trans community at Pride, where there’s a lot of work that still needs to happen with the rest of [the LGBTQ+] community being able to understand us and create space for us.”
What’s one element of the planned march you’re especially excited about?
“All of the marchers will receive carnations as they enter the Anne Frank Memorial, and they’ll also have a blank card where they can write a message to the trans community, and then tie the message onto the carnation. We’re going to attach all the flowers onto a metal sculpture [being made for this event] … and folks who are trans or nonbinary can receive a carnation with a message on it. The structure will then be moved to our booth for the weekend, so as people come to the booth they can still write a message and we’ll add that to the structure.”
You want trans people to simply enjoy this march. How do you hope cisgender allies will be affected?
“I think it's an opportunity for our allies to be with us in our joy and our celebration, not just in our struggle. It doesn't change the fact that we do have difficulties living in Idaho as trans people … But we can't let it rob us of our joy. And the truth is, just to get all spiritual, they can't take our joy. They can f— with our happiness. They can create containers and a world in which it's hard for us to let our joy out. But the truth is we have the power to experience joy and we deserve to experience it beyond our living rooms and our bedrooms and our little pockets and community. We deserve to have joy wherever we go.”
