Latin trans fashionistas work the runway & push boundaries in history-making fundraiser

Clothing is one of the first tools most people use to express their identity and feel comfortable in their own skin. Unfortunately, many trans people are robbed of this experience during their formative years because the clothes they want to wear break gender stereotypes. For Latin trans people, this issue is even more complex, as they face both near-invisibility in the fashion industry and higher rates of poverty, homelessness, and more limited access to gender-affirming care (which includes access to clothing that best expresses their gender identity).

While some trans individuals are fighting to make the fashion industry more inclusive from the inside, The TransLatin@ Coalition, a nonprofit organization founded in Los Angeles in 2009, has opted to show the industry how it’s done. Once again, they will host GARRAS on November 16 at the Pacific Design Center — a fashion runway show that invites Latin transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex individuals to showcase the power of intersectional identity as designers and models.

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Last year, GARRAS raised $260,000 to support the organization’s lifesaving public programs, which include a community drop-in and resource center that has served over 9,541 individuals with violence preventation programs and legal, medical, mental health, and housing assistance. The historic fashion event showcased 11 Latin designers celebrating all identities and saw its largest turnout, with over 750 attendees.

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The upcoming GARRAS show celebrating the organization’s 15th year and aptly chose a “Quinceañera” theme for the runway. Still, one organization can’t carry the country on its back for all Latin trans visibility.

While the mainstream fashion industry has traditionally been more inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community — particularly empowering gay men — it has historically excluded trans people from the runway and in its marketing to the masses. That has changed recently, with publications like Vogue and The New York Times and major design houses like Gucci and Marc Jacobs increasingly recognizing trans talent.

But the intersection of Latinidad and transness has still largely been left out of the conversation. The arrival of Hispanic Heritage Month in October, followed by Trans Awareness Week in November, raises the question of how the fashion industry can hand the mic to the Latin trans community.

For me, claiming roots in Latin America feels like a flex. However, trans model and activist Rose Montoya tells LGBTQ Nation it made her more palpably aware that the fashion industry has failed to put a face to her demographic. Fighting for this recognition became important to Montoya as an adult because, as a child, her parents hid her Latin identity from her and barricaded access to any information on LGBTQ+ issues. 

“When I was little, I used to pray to God to make me a woman, that one day, I’d just wake up a girl,” says Montoya. “I didn’t even know there was a word for transness.”

It’s not unusual for a Latin person to want to assimilate into American culture so badly that they reject their heritage, especially when they believe it will give their children better opportunities. Montoya’s parents raised her as if her generational bloodline was exclusively American. Her adult trans journey made her even more determined to own all aspects of who she was and independently trace her Hispanic roots. She felt angry with her parents for locking her Latinhood in a box and then losing it. They couldn’t provide any information on her great-grandparents, who originally immigrated to the U.S.

“Representation has ramifications in society for how people view us, shaping their expectations of what we look like and how we behave,” says Montoya. “I believe much of the representation has been too limited to extremely binary trans people and white-passing individuals.”

Montoya says self-acceptance is not a magic wand that suddenly makes an individual live boldly in their truth. For many trans people, it’s trial and error until they discover what resonates the most with their spirits. While many teenagers experiment with various fashion styles, such as gothic or preppy, Montoya began this process as a grown woman.

This also made her question: Where was trans-Latinness on the runway or in magazine spreads? She felt the industry navigated inclusion like ticking off a whitewashed checkbox, failing to recognize that trans people come from all parts of the world.

Naturally, the solution starts with the people making the clothes. In this case, nonbinary Mexican designer Guillermo Jester tells LGBTQ Nation that the seeds of his career were planted when he wanted to wear women’s clothing as a child. His father quickly shut that down, but it came from a place of love. 

“I remember my dad telling me in college that he was very worried about how I expressed myself through clothes,” says Jester. “He feared someone might hit me, shoot me, or be aggressive in some way.”

Although Mexico has liberal bubbles where queerness is relatively safe, Jester explains that most of the country remains radically conservative, especially when it comes to men being men, with little tolerance for any guy who takes off the not-so-fashionable cloak of toxic masculinity (or machismo).

“All fashion should be genderless,” says Jester, who designs what one could call hybrids of traditionally male and female clothing. “I don’t think society is ready, but who cares? We have to blow up the industry for something better to take its place.” 

The designer notes that Mexico has been swept up in polarizing politics and social beliefs in recent years, making its culture not so different from America’s. He wants his brand to dress all types of people and believes genderless fashion isn’t limited to nonbinary individuals. His models encompass all walks of life, and his clothing is made for all body types. He advertises the same clothes to men, women, and nonbinary folks. He urges people in power to take the risk of revolutionizing the systems in place for real, positive change.

The elephant in the room is that the fashion industry is built on capitalistic ideals, often catering solely to dollars and trends. So, for Latin transness to have a permanent seat at the table, leaders must be willing to form their own.

Bamby Salcedo, president of The TransLatin@ Coalition, says the organization was founded to unite the Latin transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex communities and fight for common goals on local and national levels. 

Exposure is the only way to change hearts and minds—whether for Latin folks, queer people, or both — Salcedo says. While she knows her annual fashion show won’t change the entire industry, it’s a momentous night where hundreds of people still see transness in the sweat, tears, and joy of fashion and through the trans bodies wearing the eye-catching styles down the runway.

“I always invite people to come see our organization, see who we are, and the people we work with and work for,” Salcedo tells LGBTQ Nation. “We serve lunch every day just because we know there are about 2,000 trans or gender-nonconforming people who are on the streets this very moment.”

The TransLatin@ Coalition is doing so much more than helping the community survive — it’s ensuring many of them thrive. Designer Mars Wright, designer of Life Mars, says GARRAS is changing the future of trans designers like himself by providing such a unique platform.

“Being involved has been a dream come true; this will be my third year involved, and being part of trans fashion history is so amazing,” he says.

José Huizar, designer of Bad Burro, has been showcasing at GARRAS for the past three years and has been embraced by the trans community. “Together, we are not just showcasing fashion; we are creating a space where everyone can feel seen, valued, and empowered,” Huizar says.

Hust as hate breeds hate, love and visibility do the same, and the designers are lovingly paying it forward while also helping other communities feel seen. Robert Ortiz, the designer behind the Royal Rubbish brand, for example, says the brand focuses on empowering trans plus-size bodies, a rarity in any fashion show or magazine.

This November 16, when the lights dim, the music starts, and hundreds of Los Angelenos take their seats to witness trans talent in high fashion, many in the audience will see themselves represented for the first time.

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