Black Trans Activist and Actress Blossom C. Brown Reclaims Her Time at CNN’s Equality Town Hall

By N. Jamiyla Chisholm Oct 11, 2019

At CNN's Equality Town Hall on Thursday (October 10) trans actress Blossom C. Brown interrupted a questioner during Beto O'Rourke’s set six candidates in and declared, “Black trans women are being killed in this country and CNN, you have erased Black trans women for the last time!" With the mic in her hand, and placing herself in the middle of an aisle to face the audience, Brown continued, “Let me tell you something, Black trans women are dying. Our lives matter!”

At the historic event, nine 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidates addressed issues pertinent to the LGBTQ+ community and pledged to fight for equal protections in federal law, to outlaw dangerous practices such as conversion therapy and to lift restrictions on gay men donating blood. By the seventh candidate, Brown was boiling. “Sitting here at this @CNN Townhall and yet not one single Black Transwoman nor man has taken the mic to ask questions,” Brown tweeted from the event.

When Brown took the mic CNN’s Don Lemon attempted to assuage her by saying the forum for was people of color like her. Brown retorted, “Baby, your actions have to speak louder than words, because guess what? Not one Black trans woman has taken the mic tonight. Not one Black trans man has taken the mic tonight!" (CNN reported that questions from Black transgender people appeared later in the program.)

Watch the video on Twitter, below, courtesy of Meghan Stabler (@MeghanStabler):

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After the town hall, O’Rourke tweeted his appreciation to Brown:

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O’Rourke wasn’t the only one who thanked Brown for giving voice to the Black trans community, as many on Twitter have since praised her also:

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