Martha Marvel, a trans woman and the founder and current president of the Bay Area Council on Gender Diversity in Green Bay, Wisconsin, has found her footing.

“When Trump was inaugurated and started his daily raft of executive orders, I and others were initially deflated. Then we got angry. Then we organized.”

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Pride is a protest, and getting married was an act of protest in 1993.

And then they marched, first to a “Celebration of Trans Visibility” the council held in March, featuring trans entertainers, poets, storytellers, and Two-Spirit people.

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“The mayor read a pro-trans proclamation, and our state assemblyman spoke. The venue held 200 people and we sold it out.”

Then to a hastily organized “Resist” rally held in downtown Green Bay in April. 

“I was asked to speak and let people know what the impact of Trump has been on the trans community. I was the opening speaker. Nearly 2000 people showed up.”

And in June, Marvel and her group will be back marching in the Milwaukee Pride Parade, where BACGD showed their pink, blue, and white colors for the first time in 2023.

The energy on that perfect June day was “electric and amazing,” says Marvel.

“We were one of the few specifically ‘trans’-focused units in the parade, and the only one from Green Bay. People were excited to see our trans flags and large Pride flag with the Green Bay Packers logo on it, and they gave us a lot of cheers. Some in our contingent had never been out in public before, and the radiant trans joy was something to behold.”

Marvel’s group started eight years ago with a meeting of four trans people “in a dirty storeroom” at the back of the Napalese Lounge in Green Bay, the longest-running LGBTQ+ bar in Wisconsin. The nonprofit’s contact list of trans people, family members, friends, and allies has grown to over 500 members and supporters.

The group offers a wide variety of programs for trans, nonbinary, and genderfluid adults and youth, says Marvel, with events like monthly social support gatherings, annual trans youth holiday parties, and an LGBTQ+ high school prom.

A Trans Artists Collaborative was born from the group’s membership; their latest production is “The Transperience,” a “multi-medium and digital immersive” art experience.

Education is top of mind for Marvel right now, as the Trump administration and far-right Republicans try to erase trans and LGBTQ+ identity, and peddle “various false, misleading, junk science claims.”

“If anything, we’re going to use this negative attention as a time to educate people to the reality of our existence and keep pushing the envelope,” she says. 

“Attendance at our monthly gatherings, donations, requests to speak to businesses and community groups are all up,” Marvel says. “It’s a little dramatic, but in a way, we provide some light in the midst of the fog.”

“There have been tough times before, and we have survived,” Marvel adds. “Trans people have been around since the beginning of recorded history and are present in cultures worldwide. We aren’t going anywhere.”

Pride in Pictures is LGBTQ Nation’s annual series celebrating Pride across the country. We asked our readers to send in their pictures and stories of Pride and we got so many rainbows. Keep an eye out for more heartwarming stories to get you ready for Pride Month 2025.

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