TransLab

Pride did not begin as a corporate celebration. It began as resistance led by q***r and trans people, especially those most marginalized by racism, poverty, policing, and oppression.

The modern Pride movement traces back to the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City, when q***r and trans communities fought back against police raids, harassment, and criminalization. Those on the frontlines were often people most marginalized by society, including trans women, q***r people of colour, unhoused youth, and s*x workers.

Activists like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson remind us that q***r liberation has always been deeply connected to trans activism, mutual aid, and community care. Through the creation of grassroots organizations like Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), they created support systems for trans and q***r youth abandoned by families, institutions, and even parts of the LGBTQ+ movement itself.

Pride can hold joy and complexity at the same time. Remembering these histories is one way to centre trans voices and honour the roots of q***r resistance.
Sources:

“Bitch on Wheels, (2001 June) New York, N”.” Recovering Democracy Archives. https://recoveringdemocracyarchives.umd.edu/rda-speech/?ID=2423
“Marsha P. Johnson.” National Women’s History Museum. 2022.
www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/marsha-p-johnson

🌈📣 The T Shelf 📣🌈

This week’s pick: Trans Resistance through Artful Existence: A Zine

This zine originated from The GenderFULL Meditation Project. The GenderFULL Meditation Project was an eight-week, student-led community effort facilitated by the TransLab at Athabasca University. Through a broad call for submissions, members of Alberta's trans community contributed artwork, writing, and reflections inspired by their personal experiences. This zine celebrates trans* creativity as powerful, necessary, and deeply alive, bringing together art and reflection to take up space, tell our own stories, and stay connected to one another.

Across its pages, you’ll find work that moves between tenderness and intensity; pieces that hold joy, anger, care, and imagination side by side. At a moment when trans* lives are increasingly politicized and misunderstood, Trans Resistance Through Artful Existence offers a reminder that creativity can be grounding, protective, and collective. Art becomes a way of showing up for ourselves and each other, and of insisting on our full presence in the world.

Whether you see yourself reflected here or are engaging as a witness and ally, this zine invites you to slow down, pay attention, and listen.

📖 Check it out online:https://transresearchlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Trans-Resistance-through-Artful-Existence-PDF.pdf

Got a rec? Let’s connect. Slide into our DMs or email us. Let’s build this shelf together.