Bernie Wagenblast, also known as the “voice of the trains,” who came out as transgender in 2023, hosts the novel mini-series podcast, “InTransit,” bringing attention to transgender people.
This Sunday, March 31, marks the 16th annual International Transgender Day of Visibility. In celebration, New York City Transit, the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, and the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center have joined forces to launch a new awareness campaign: “InTransit: Guiding 2.4 million daily riders to respect transgender people.”
The Christopher Street-Sheridan Square subway station displayed posters directing passengers to “InTransit” for a month in Manhattan. Visitors to the website can access the fictional “T Line” to explore the history of transgender people in New York City dating back to the 17th century.
The project highlights the trans-historical narratives of 17 NYC landmarks, including the Stonewall statue in Christopher Park and the drag balls at the Imperial Lodge of Elks in Harlem.
“Trans stories existed long before this became the issue of the day,” said Ken Lustbader, co-director of the project. “There’s no erasing history because New York City has been a melting pot of transgender people, as we have documented.”
Users can even tune in to the fresh audio mini- line, “InTransit” hosted by the “voice of the subway”, Bernie Wagenblast. Wagenblast’s voice may not ring a bell, but it will because of her booming and ominous announcements, which urge people to “please stand away from the platform edge.”
On the seven-episode podcast, Wagenblast sits down with several guests to discuss issues trans people face as well as where they can find resources to lead happy and healthy lives. On January 1, 2023, Wagenblast officially became transgender.
“Visibility is so important because when people see someone that’s different, they come to understand the person — not some stereotype”, Wagenblast told amNewYork Metro. “Hopefully I can increase that visibility”.
More than 500 anti-LGBT+ bills were introduced across the nation, ranging from banning trans students the right to participate in school sports to prohibiting adults from using restrooms that coincide with their gender identity, and scores of anti-LGBT+ bills were signed into law. As a result, the HRC declared a national state of emergency for the LGBTQ+ community. However, the harm didn’t stop there because trans people continue to be the target of hate crimes that end in fatalities.
“It’s kind of hard to believe”, said Patrick McGovern, CEO of Callen- Lorde, the leading healthcare provider targeting trans people in NYC. However, we’re seeing similar trends in the field of reproductive rights. We’re losing ground in ways that few of us, in my opinion, would have imagined even a few years ago, would have done.
McGovern also applauded New York State’s leadership in keeping the LGBTQ+ community safe and ensuring access to health care.
International Transgender Day of Visibility, which was founded in 2009, began to grow as a result of Rachel Crandall Crocker’s dismissal from her job as a psychotherapist and her marriage after she emerged as a transgender in 1997. But from the ashes rose a phoenix.
“My work wasn’t aware that they were creating a worldwide activist”, Crocker told amNewYork Metro. I don’t believe I would have ever created everything I did if there had been such discrimination against me.
Crocker co-founded Transgender Michigan, an organization that provides mental health and resources to trans people in the same year. She continued to engage in activism, but it was Facebook that gave her cause a platform when she founded a group calling for the recognition of transgender people. It took some time to gain traction, but with Crocker’s perseverance, she soon had activists and leaders from around the world reaching out and wanting to join in her effort.
“I wanted a day that we could celebrate being alive”, said Crocker. “The only day we had was the Transgender Day of Remembrance established in 199 which is when we remembered those who were killed just from being trans”.
By visiting intransit, promote the transgender community and raise awareness. nyc where you can listen to the stories you didn’t know you did n’t know.
And Rachel Crandall Crocker wants to remind everyone that “you don’t have to be perfect to change the world – you just have to be you.”
