Dreaming Bigger and Better With This Year’s ATX Trans Pride

Edward West is known for slinging vinyl around Austin. He’s good, too, and has been for a while: Even under his former moniker DJ Boi Orbison, venues around town booked him night after night. But in 2019, he looked up from his mixer and couldn’t help but notice something: Where was the space for trans people? 

Now in its seventh year, the ATX Trans Pride event West founded to answer that question is back with a new format. Unlike previous years, it’ll take place this September 18-20, with more programming and venues than ever before. West said that’s this year’s thesis: bigger and louder.

“Having Trans Pride in a bigger setting, [on] a bigger weekend, shows that Texas still has a lot of trans people living in it, and a lot of trans talent,” West said. 

Collaborating with West this year are curators like Haus of Trans mother the Trans Era, trans DJ collective Doll Behavior, trans and intersex arts community organization Gender Unbound, and musician Lucía Beyond. Festivities kick off at Swan Dive on Friday, Sept. 18 with a live music showcase roaring late into the night led by Babidoll. The next day, Gender Unbound will host an all-ages mini art fest at Grassroots Leadership, completely free with RSVP. That same evening, the Transland rave will start bumping at a secret location revealed upon ticket purchase, and will include sets from Lucía Beyond, Xoy, and SuperMcNasty. On Sunday, while those who partied too hard sleep off their hangover, there will be a midday pool party at the Austin Motel with sets from Doll Behavior. Assuming you hydrated, you can wrap up Trans Pride at Coconut Club with EXCELLENCE, a drag show hosted by The Trans Era and Venus Rising.

“Expanding Trans Pride to an entire weekend is meeting the moment,” West explained. That “moment” hung over our conversation. Another year into Trump 2.0, it seems on every front that the progress the trans community made in the past decades has regressed. “Austin is seen as a blue city, but we also just lost our rainbow crosswalks,” West added. “It feels more important than ever to expand Trans Pride. Make it bigger, and not to shrink down.”  

In the past, Trans Pride took place during August alongside Austin Pride, then last year it was split between June and August, and now it’s happening in September. As to why the switch to September, West echoed a sentiment I’d heard over and over again in discussions of Austin Pride: “You know, it’s August. People are very burnt out.” Simply “burnt” would’ve been true, too: This year’s Pride had a record high of 107 degrees. West hopes that with the extra breathing room from Austin Pride and the summer heat, both the talent and attendees will have the energy to celebrate properly.

To West, a big part of making room for trans people is making sure the event is not just for trans people, but by them as well. He laughed as he said, “I don’t want to call it Disneyland for trans people, but it kind of is. I mean, it’s where your dreams can come true.”

Every decision is made by a trans person, he told me. The supermajority of folks working the events will also be trans, including trans bouncers, trans staff, trans entertainers, trans go-go dancers, and trans bartenders, West said. For many attendees, it might be the first time they’ve seen so many other members of their community in one place. Creating a space like this, in this state and at this time, sends a clear message. “When people say ‘Well, why don’t you just move?’ Well, you don’t have to,” West said. “There is a very huge, vibrant community here.” And he doesn’t just want to limit that community to locals. “I wanted to expand Trans Pride into an entire weekend in the hopes of attracting people who do not live in Austin,” said West, “to give them a reason to come here for that weekend.”

By the time our conversation was almost finished, I heard a smile in West’s voice. He believes this year’s Trans Pride will be a blast: “I want my attendees to leave feeling hopeful for the future. Just because the government says one thing, it does not mean that we are limited in creating what we need for ourselves.”

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