An Icon of the San Francisco Transgender Community is Set to Preserve Trans History

KCBS Radio In Depth

Back in 2017, three black trans women founded the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District in San Francisco - now more commonly known as The Transgender District. Its original name pulls upon the history of the first documented uprising of transgender and queer people in the country, the Compton’s Cafeteria Riots of 1966.

Of course, the history of trans people in the Bay Area - in particular in San Francisco - runs deep, so much so that in 2021, advocates within the Transgender District got the month of August to be recognized as Transgender History Month in the city and county of San Francisco. Then California took that a step further last year, when the state assembly voted in favor of making Transgender History Month a statewide designation.

The first full state recognized Transgender History Month is the August we are in right now.

The legacy of trans people is what Andrea Horne is focused on and she’s this week’s guest on In Depth. Horne is a former actress, model, jazz singer - and she’s been a fixture in the trans community of San Francisco for over 40 years, working to support the black and brown transgender women in the Tenderloin.

Horne is also a keeper of stories, of the histories of trans women of color that might otherwise be lost. Now, she’s turning her research into a book titled, "How Black Trans Women Changed the World."