LaSaia Wade

LaSaia Wade

2013 - Living in rural Tennessee, she went to a local community center and demanded space not just for white trans people, she said, but for all trans people. The organization she created there was called
Tennessee Transgender Justice Project (TNTJ).

Wade was concerned by what she saw as a lack of space and resources for trans people to build community. Speaking to the managers of that rural community center she said: "‘You will give us space. You will allow us to have space. And we will not accept a no.’”
Wade was determined not to be at risk for not having space, as NBC journalist reports, Wade went on the say: "That’s just my motto. I need to be safe and I will be safe now, so give me my safe space."
From there she moved to Chicago and created a black-led, trans-led organization called Brave Space Alliance. to service the most marginalized LGBTQ communities in South Chicago.

OutFront: Trans Activist LaSaia Wade Refuses 'Not To Be Safe,' June 30, 2016. By Julie Compton. NBC News.
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/outfront-transgender-activist-lasaia-wade-refuses-not-be-safe-n601701

‘Warrior women together’: Mothers of the Black trans family. By Tyra Bosnic, March 26, 2021.
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/3/26/warrior-women-together-mothers-of-the-black-trans-family

LaSaia Wade | Brave Space Alliance, the power of the Ballroom Scene, and more. WGN Radio 720, Chicago. Photo credit: LaSaia Wade
https://wgnradio.com/wgn-plus/the-cornerstore/lasaia-wade-brave-space-alliance-the-power-of-the-ballroom-scene-and-more/

Interview with LaSaia Wade. Transgender Digital Archive.
https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/ks65hc54n