Community Art – TRACTION https://tractionpnw.org trans • community • action Mon, 06 Apr 2026 23:44:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://tractionpnw.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/cropped-traction-boot-icon-transparent-32x32.png Community Art – TRACTION https://tractionpnw.org 32 32 Trans Heartbeat: Inside Lavender Rights Project with Jaelynn Scott https://tractionpnw.org/trans-heartbeat-inside-lavender-rights-project/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trans-heartbeat-inside-lavender-rights-project Mon, 06 Apr 2026 23:44:34 +0000 https://tractionpnw.org/?p=21839 Trans Heartbeat sits down with Jaelynn Scott, Executive Director of Lavender Rights Project, a Black trans feminist organization rooted in community organizing, housing justice, and liberation work in Washington state and beyond. We explore what it means to lead with care, move systems, and center those most impacted, while remembering that trans+ people are not a debate, but human beings living full, complex lives.

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Inside Lavender Rights Project, with Jaelynn Scott

In this episode of Trans Heartbeat, Michelle Matlock sits down with Jaelynn Scott, Executive Director of Lavender Rights Project, a Black trans feminist organization rooted in community organizing, housing justice, and liberation work in Washington State and beyond.

Together, they explore what it means to lead with care, move systems, and center those most impacted, while remembering that trans+ people are not a debate, but human beings living full, complex lives. This is a conversation about justice, community, and how we show up for one another in real time.

Watch the episode on YouTube now and feel the beat of a movement!

Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 

Hosted by TRACTION President Michelle Matlock, Trans Heartbeat celebrates and affirms trans+ existence, empowers responses to the rising tide of transphobic rhetoric in our country, and showcases the power of trans+ artistic expression.

Keep listening! Keep creating! Keep shining your light!

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]]> TDOV Moving Stories https://tractionpnw.org/moving-stories-2026/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=moving-stories-2026 Thu, 12 Mar 2026 17:04:17 +0000 https://tractionpnw.org/?p=21216 Join TRACTION for live storytelling March 31, 2026 in Seattle. Moving Stories: Trans+ Tales of Hope & Homecoming is a night community-building, connection, and celebration.

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TRACTION is honoring Trans Day of Visibility with live storytelling.

Moving Stories: Trans+ Tales of Hope & Homecoming is a storytelling event about crossing borders, finding safety, and building home together.

In partnership with Seattle Foundation, this evening centers the voices of Two-Spirit, transgender, transsexual, nonbinary, agender, and gender-nonconforming (trans+) people who moved to Washington to escape anti-trans persecution and violence, and the people who helped them land here with care. Other stories are about discovering community, and finding safety in our own bodies.

The evening’s featured storytellers each receive an honorarium, and professional coaching. We invite you to join us and support these talented members of the Seattle community.

Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $20.

RSVP & Donate

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]]> Trans Heartbeat: Creating Change 2026 – We Are Unstoppable https://tractionpnw.org/trans-heartbeat-goes-to-creating-change/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trans-heartbeat-goes-to-creating-change Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:17:05 +0000 https://tractionpnw.org/?p=20941 Trans Heartbeat hits the road! Join Michelle and the TRACTION team on location in Washington, D.C. at the Creating Change Conference, one of the largest annual gatherings of LGBTQ+ changemakers in the world.

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Creating Change 2026 – We Are Unstoppable

Trans Heartbeat hits the road! Join Michelle Matlock and the TRACTION team on location in Washington, D.C. at the Creating Change Conference, one of the largest gatherings of LGBTQ+ changemakers in the world.

From powerful hallway conversations to TRACTION’s conference presentation, “From Banished to Belonging,” this episode captures the energy, connections, and hope we’re building together.

New partnerships, new friends, and a whole lot of trans joy!

Watch the episode on YouTube now and feel the beat of a movement!

Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 

Hosted by TRACTION President Michelle Matlock, Trans Heartbeat celebrates and affirms trans+ existence, empowers responses to the rising tide of transphobic rhetoric in our country, and showcases the power of trans+ artistic expression.

Keep listening! Keep creating! Keep shining your light!

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]]> Our Annual Report for FY 2024-25 is here https://tractionpnw.org/annual-report-2024/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=annual-report-2024 Wed, 11 Feb 2026 19:52:18 +0000 https://tractionpnw.org/?p=20619 The past year was one of unprecedented growth for TRACTION- fueled by both joy and trepidation. Our FY 2024-25 is here.

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The past year was one of unprecedented growth for TRACTION- fueled by both joy and trepidation. Your support has been no small part of that. As the threats agains trans+ folk increase, more and more people have shown up to help. A record number of people came out to volunteer, new community partnerships were forged, and our number of individual donors more than tripled in FY24-25.

As we enter our seventh year as an organization, we strive to remain nimble, listen to our communities’ needs, and respond accordingly. As 2026 progresses, we’ll be leaning even more into our civic engagement work, helping to ensure positive, progressive outcomes for the mid-term elections and a better future for people of all genders.

In solidarity,

C. Michael Woodward, MPH (he/him)
Executive Director

View Annual Report

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]]> Trans Heartbeat: A Full Circle Moment with Mya Byrne https://tractionpnw.org/trans-heartbeat-full-circle-moment/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trans-heartbeat-full-circle-moment Tue, 13 Jan 2026 16:00:43 +0000 https://tractionpnw.org/?p=20183 On this episode of Trans Heartbeat Mya Byrne reflects on her “Trans State of the Union” one year later, shares what she’s been creating, and speaks truth to the shifting political climate for trans+ folks and artists.

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A Full Circle Moment with Mya Byrne

We’re honored to welcome Mya Byrne back to Trans Heartbeat as our first episode of 2026,  just as she was our very first guest when we launched the series last year.

In this episode, Mya reflects on her “Trans State of the Union” one year later, shares what she’s been creating, and speaks truth to the shifting political climate for trans folks and artists.

It’s a conversation filled with music, insight, and the steady heartbeat of trans resilience.

Watch the episode on YouTube now and feel the beat of a movement!

Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 

Hosted by TRACTION President Michelle Matlock, Trans Heartbeat celebrates and affirms trans+ existence, empowers responses to the rising tide of transphobic rhetoric in our country, and showcases the power of trans+ artistic expression.

Keep listening! Keep creating! Keep shining your light!

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]]> Transgender Day of Remembrance https://tractionpnw.org/transgender-day-of-remembrance/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=transgender-day-of-remembrance Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:31:46 +0000 https://tractionpnw.org/?p=19697 Remembrance is not merely ritual; it is a living act that calls us deeper into connection with both the living and the lost.

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Transgender Day of Remembrance is on a black screen with four lit candles glowing. The TRACTION logo is next to the candles.

My first experience attending a Transgender Day of Remembrance

was in Tucson, Arizona, in 2001. I can still remember the dusky warmth in the air as I gathered quietly with others beneath the deepening desert sky. The vigil was led by the late, great Alexander John Goodrum—a visionary Black trans+ advocate and educator whose gentle authority and fierce compassion set the tone for the whole evening. Even then, it was clear there was something extraordinary about Alexander: the way he spoke each name, honored the complexity of grief, and called us to hold one another in both sorrow and solidarity stayed with me long after the candles burned out.

Alexander soon became a source of courage and wisdom for me—a close friend and mentor whose lessons about tenderness in activism still shape my work to this day. He taught me that justice is not just about demanding change, but also about building loving, sustaining community. Remembrance, as Alexander practiced it, was not merely ritual; it was a living act that called us deeper into connection with both the living and the lost.

Only a year later, we faced the heartbreaking task of reading Alexander’s own name aloud at that same TDOR. He had died by suicide in the fall of 2002 while seeking help at a local mental health facility. His absence left a profound ache in Tucson’s community and among trans+ advocates everywhere. Speaking his name among the others was a reminder of how vulnerable we are, and how essential it is to support one another in grief, in hope, and in solidarity.

Twenty-three years later, I return to TDOR each November holding Alexander’s legacy close—honoring not only those we have lost to violence, but also those taken by despair, and renewing our promise to fight for a safer, more loving world for every trans+ person.

– Michael Woodward

“Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people — sometimes in the most brutal ways possible — it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice.”

– Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith

We have always existed and always will exist. Let our joy and excellence be embraced as we resist the forces against us and deepen our resolve toward liberation.

Support Trans Joy

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]]> Trans Heartbeat: SANTES Project https://tractionpnw.org/trans-heartbeat-santes-project-10-28/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trans-heartbeat-santes-project-10-28 Tue, 28 Oct 2025 15:03:00 +0000 https://tractionpnw.org/?p=19428 When you're an ancestor, how do you want to be fed on an altar? What miracles would you offer? Who are you here for, even after you're gone? SANTES brings a spiritual, playful, radical and joyful discussion about, autonomy, and ancestral power on this episode of Trans HeartBeat.

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TRACTION is thrilled to drop the latest episode of Trans Heartbeat, featuring Luna Merbruja and StormMiguel Florez.

What if you could shape how you’re remembered as an ancestor…while you’re still alive?

In this episode of Trans Heartbeat, artist-activists StormMiguel Florez (he/him) and Luna Merbruja (she/they) discuss their latest collaboration: SANTES, a visionary project inviting queer trans BIPOC to lay claim to their spiritual legacies.

SANTES asks: How do you want to be fed on an altar? What miracles would you offer? Who are you here for, even after you’re gone?

It’s spiritual, playful, radical and full of joy, autonomy, and ancestral power.

Watch the episode on YouTube now and feel the beat of a movement!

Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Hosted by TRACTION President Michelle Matlock, Trans Heartbeat celebrates and affirms trans+ existence, empowers responses to the rising tide of transphobic rhetoric in our country, and showcases the power of trans+ artistic expression.

Keep listening! Keep creating! Keep shining your light!

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]]> Trans Heartbeat: Rio Antone https://tractionpnw.org/trans-heartbeat-rio-antone/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trans-heartbeat-rio-antone Tue, 07 Oct 2025 23:37:08 +0000 https://tractionpnw.org/?p=19197 Trailblazer and community leader, Rio Antone, shares their moving story with Host Michelle Matlock on this episode of Trans HeartBeat.

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TRACTION is thrilled to drop the latest episode of Trans HeartBeat, featuring advocate, educator, and artist Rio Antone.

In our latest episode, the inspiring Rio Antone opens up about their journey – from arriving in Las Vegas with just $150 in their pocket, to becoming a leader in community spaces like Gender Translations at The LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada.

They share the lessons of resilience, the beauty (and power) of fluid identity, and why building political power matters now more than ever.

Watch the episode on YouTube now and feel the beat of a movement!

Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Hosted by TRACTION President Michelle Matlock, Trans Heartbeat celebrates and affirms trans+ existence, empowers responses to the rising tide of transphobic rhetoric in our country, and showcases the power of trans+ artistic expression.

Keep listening! Keep creating! Keep shining your light!

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]]> Trans Heartbeat: Celebrating our Trancestors https://tractionpnw.org/trans-heartbeat-celebrating-our-trancestors/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trans-heartbeat-celebrating-our-trancestors Tue, 02 Sep 2025 14:18:06 +0000 https://tractionpnw.org/?p=18726 Michelle Matlock speaks with Cathy Renna, Communications Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, about the powerful 2025 Wall of Honor ceremony at the historic Stonewall Inn.

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This month Trans Heartbeat is honoring our Transcestors.


TRACTION is happy to bring the latest episode of Trans HeartBeat, featuring a conversation with Cathy Renna, Communications Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force.


In this episode host Michelle Matlock speaks with Cathy Renna about the powerful 2025 Wall of Honor ceremony at the historic Stonewall Inn.

For the first time ever, seven trans pioneers and heroes were inducted, right where the movement began.

This episode is about legacy, resistance, and celebrating trans brilliance in the face of adversity.

Watch now and learn why honoring our ancestors is an act of defiance. 

Hosted by TRACTION President Michelle Matlock, Trans Heartbeat celebrates and affirms trans+ existence, empowers responses to the rising tide of transphobic rhetoric in our country, and showcases the power of trans+ artistic expression.

Keep listening! Keep creating! Keep shining your light!

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]]> Trans Heartbeat: Hayden Stern & Trans Trad Festival https://tractionpnw.org/trans-heartbeat-hayden-stern-trans-trad-festival/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trans-heartbeat-hayden-stern-trans-trad-festival Tue, 05 Aug 2025 15:10:00 +0000 https://tractionpnw.org/?p=18329 Michelle Matlock talks with accomplished musician and community builder, Hayden Stern about the Trans Trad Music Festival and the importance of trans and gender nonconforming artists being visibly represented in traditional music spaces.

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New Trans HeartBeat Episode Alert!

TRACTION is thrilled to drop the latest episode of Trans HeartBeat, featuring violinist, activist, and festival cofounder Hayden Stern.

On this episode, Hayden shares the inspiration behind Trans Trad, a groundbreaking new festival in Olympia, WA that celebrates trans and gender nonconforming performers in traditional folk music. From bluegrass to Irish tunes, Trans Trad is reimagining who gets to hold the mic in folk traditions.

In this powerful conversation, we talk about music as resistance, building joyful community, and creating space for trans+ magic in every genre.

Watch the episode now and feel the beat of a movement!

Available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Zencastr.

Hosted by TRACTION President Michelle Matlock, Trans Heartbeat celebrates and affirms trans+ existence, empowers responses to the rising tide of transphobic rhetoric in our country, and showcases the power of trans+ artistic expression.

Keep listening! Keep creating! Keep shining your light!

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