Sasha Alexander Perez, 29, says that while growing up, he wasn’t aware that transitioning was a possibility. But over time, he said, “I realized that it was not a thing bound by race, or class, or anything. I realized that’s who I always was: I was always gender nonconforming, I was always trans in that way. And after I stopped fighting it, I didn’t want to die anymore.”
Olympia Perez Alexander arranged her hair one afternoon in June. Preparing to leave the house is a process, she said as she readied herself to face a world that often refuses to see her as she sees herself. “It’s a 30-minute conversation with myself, reminding myself how strong I am, how I can make it to the subway station, past people whispering that they believe I’m a man.”
Sasha and Olympia shared a moment together on the subway in Manhattan. They run Black Trans Media together, an organization dedicated to strengthening the Black trans community through activism, support and education.
Olympia shopped for groceries at a neighborhood store. Transgender people, particularly Black trans women, face disproportionate rates of violence, homelessness, joblessness and poverty.
Sasha and Olympia returned home one evening last June. Black Trans Media fills a void for the Black trans community, Olympia said. “It gives people a platform to use, or to have a voice, when most of the time they go and walk in the world silent.”
Olympia kissed Sasha as they prepared for an appearance this spring. “We are the ones we are waiting for,” they often remind themselves.
Olympia said she was pushed out of her last job for being trans, and that a landlord gave them a lot of trouble.
Sasha and Olympia waited together for their laundry to finish.
Sasha gave himself a weekly testosterone shot at home. Sasha said the practice has become an almost sacred ritual.
Olympia said that her mother struggled to accept her transgender identity. Olympia ended up living in several foster homes.
Every walk down the street draws attention. Sometimes, Olympia said, “I can only laugh from the sadness.”
Sasha reached out to Olympia one morning in June at their Brooklyn apartment.
Olympia performed at a poetry night at The Center in Manhattan. Olympia said her poetry is “inspired and informed by the oppression that we face everyday.” is how “we make sense of the world, of life, of who we are in the world, how we’re looked at, how we’re experienced.”
Olympia trimmed Sasha’s hair. Increased visibility around trans issues is not enough, Sasha said. “We are dying, we’re denied jobs, we’re denied education.” Olympia added, “I feel like it shouldn’t be like this. It shouldn’t be fighting to live.”
Sasha and Olympia see themselves as carrying on the legacy of trans activists of the past. “It’s so important for us to shape the world,” Sasha said, “to be in the shadows of amazing people who did amazing work, and to take them with us as we do our work.” Olympia added, “I feel like I’m making a new shadow, standing by a whole bunch of different shadows that are gone, almost fading in, fading out. I just feel like this is making sense of the world.”
