On May 9th 2015 at 11 a.m. we will shut down West End and 25th in Nashville, Tennessee. We are done being silent. We are doing this protest because we feel like we have no other choice. I would like to say that we apologize for the inconvenience, but that would be a lie. We feel like we are being suffocated by a society that wants us to magically disappear. 

Every day we are slaughtered like cattle. Our murder rates are the highest and the least solved in history. There's not a single place that a transgender and non binary homeless person can go to for shelter or help in Nashville. We are struggling for adequate health care. Suicides are at an all time high. Of course we are going to take a stand. Our survival depends on it. Whether people know it or not their humanity depends on it too.

TNTJ's mission is to give the minorities the platform to speak and to grow in order to empower our community. For too long we have been in the back of the LGBT community. We are through waiting for our time to come. Our time is now. 

We are saying no more to our brothers, sisters, and siblings being stabbed, set on fire, and raped for living their truths. A child shouldn't go to school and be told which bathroom they should use, what to wear, or what pronouns they should go by. Not one more day should children be bullied into believing taking their life is the only way. Its the same as murder. We shouldn't have to worry about receiving care at a hospital. People have been taking away our platform instead of allowing us our right to train and communicate. They want to tokenize us but not promote us. We are done with the injustice. We are demanding our voices to be heard because our lives matter.

File Photo (above)