Today, there is a new era that will mark the history of the work that our organization is doing on behalf of the Trans community. As an organization that is led by trans people who are striving to make the necessary changes to ensure the needs of our community are met, we are unveiling the results of The State of Trans Health: Trans Latin@s and Their Health Care Needs.
Our organization, in partnership with The California Endowment and Jacqueline Caraves embarked in a new task to amplify the needs of Trans Latin@s in the southern part of our golden state. The sole purpose of this project was to make an assessment about what are the needs that would make Trans Latin@s in southern California healthy individuals. The project took a year long to be completed. Many people participated through the process, including members of our organization, our allies and members of the Trans Latin@ community in San Diego, Long Beach, Orange County, El Monte, San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles. The results of this research project in no surprise to us, what is different about this is that we now have tangible evidence that supports our needs as a community and paints a better picture of the realities of our community locally.
The completion of this report, goes in line with our strategic plan that we developed in 2015. It also goes in line with the mission and vision of our organization. We hope that the information in this report will support the work that needs to be done to address our needs as a community. We hope that the information provided in this report will guide policy makers, program developers, academics and organizations working on behalf of the Trans Latin@ community to create programs and policies that will uplift and amplify the lives of Trans people in southern California but also across the United States.
Lastly, I want to make sure that I recognize the support of our allies, our work could not be possible if do not have the backing and support from the people and organizations who believe in the work that we do, but also embody the true spirit of ally-ship, it is because of the support of these individuals and organizations who are committed to changing the landscape of the lives of Trans People that we as an organization is doing the work that we are doing. Thank you everyone for your continuous support to our organization and to the Trans community
Best,
Bamby Salcedo
President & CEO, TransLatin@ Coalition