CNN’s Equality Town Hall on October 10 was a watershed moment for the discussion of LGBTQ issues in a presidential campaign. Cohosted by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the event featured nine of the top 2020 Democratic presidential candidates taking audience questions about issues like the Equality Act, banning conversion therapy, making HIV medication PrEP more affordable, and more.

But the event was also criticized as it was happening for excluding black transgender women. Online, writer and advocate Ashlee Marie Preston took to Twitter to claim that her question had been dropped from CNN’s list of those to be asked of candidates. Meanwhile, at the event, activists Bamby Salcedo, Maria Roman, and Michaé Pulido interrupted proceedings. At another point, advocate Blossom C. Brown took over a mic to call out the cable news network.

The controversy started on Twitter, where Preston tweeted around 5:30 p.m., EST, last night that she was “pulling out” of the town hall hosted by CNN and HRC, claiming, “I was part of the program & CNN scrapped my participation last minute. I was going to bring attention to the terror TSA inflicts on trans & nonbinary bodies while traveling. I’d rather be absent than present & silent.”

In another tweet, Preston said she had only been notified hours before the event that she wouldn’t get a chance to join the conversation. And in another tweet, she expressed how bitter the disappointment was, writing, “I really wanted this to be a positive thing for us — to have a voice in a space that’s often hijacked by cis, white, gay male narrative.”

Preston told Teen Vogue in an interview that CNN had invited her to ask a question of a candidate at the event, which she agreed to despite apprehensions about being involved because she was "so excited to shed light on the real issues that disproportionately impact trans women of color."

"The questions I wanted to ask encapsulate what systemic oppression looks like for us—and would have given candidates an opportunity to think about how they can help us dismantle it," Preston told Teen Vogue.

Her tweet started a conversation on Twitter about what the CNN/HRC town hall would look like and whether or not it would prioritize trans women of color and, especially, black trans women, who have been at the forefront of the LGBTQ movement for decades, though they have been historically excluded from conversations about LGBTQ rights.