Philly Woman Makes National Trans 100 List

Philly activist and educator Van Nguyen named one of the most influential trans people in the country.

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Congrats to Philly’s Van Nguyen for making it on This Is H.O.W. and We Happy Trans‘s first-ever Trans 100 list, which celebrates the groundbreaking work and achievements of trans people throughout the U.S.

I chatted with her this evening, and she said she’s proud to have made the lineup, because it’s not loaded up of super stars. “It’s everyday, regular people who just happen to be trans and activists.” Nguyen is a teacher by day, but says she slips into her activist heels whenever she gets the chance. She makes waves locally as the steering committee member of the Queer Asian Pacific-Islander trans* folk gathering, hotpot!, she’s the director for the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference Kids Camp program and every now and then she performs with the Liberty City Kings Drag and Burlesque troupe as drag king Andrae Jean. (Actually, she’s performing in LiCK’s Mr. Philadelphia Drag King competition next week).

Through these organizations, she is able to tackle some of her greatest passions, like fighting for immigration reform, creating safe spaces for queer youth and promoting sex/body positivity.

The other 99 that made the list comprise folks from every walk of life — from attorneys (Abigail Jensen) and trans educators (Andre Perez) to photographers (Andy Karol) and kickass reporters (Kate Sosin). But we’re awfully proud to have a Philly woman represented. Way to go, Van!

You can check out the entire list, here. And be sure to like The Trans 100 on Facebook. Eventually they’ll begin taking nominations for next year’s list, and we need to be on the ball so we can suggest the tons of other Philly trans folk that deserve to be there.

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