As the first and only transfeminine member of the Mid-South LGBT Chamber board, I serve to ensure our voices are heard in a space where we have historically been silenced and ignored. We have ever been at the forefront of the movement for LGBTQ+ rights, and the attacks against us are because those who hold us in contempt fear our growing visibility and acceptance – and the structural power we are building to fight our oppression. Recent acts by the Federal and State government have given a license to discriminate against us in employment and life, despite the protections guaranteed to us by law. Now more than ever, we need a strong LGBT Chamber that can advocate for and empower those businesses that choose to stand with us, to hire us, and to not bow to pressures to separate and eliminate us from society.

I am committed to ensuring the Mid-South LGBT Chamber takes concrete steps to strengthen those businesses that truly support the T+ community, not merely pay lip service to “respect” and “dignity” when it is convenient to do so. Our people need access to economic opportunity more than ever so we can be empowered to not just survive, but thrive.

-Lena Chipman