Trans Housing Coalition

The Trans Housing Coalition (THC) arose from a GoFundMe started by Jesse Pratt López in mid-December 2019 to help a small group of Black Trans women she had met through ReVon Michaels López, pictured below.

ReVon is a Sagittarius with a huge smile and laugh, and an even bigger appetite. I met her when she was strutting down the sidewalk in front of a Publix in downtown Atlanta. She was wrapped in a large blanket; her wig haphazardly placed upon her head and her curls as big as her smile. She asked if I could spare some change. I was about to tell her no, I don’t carry cash and I’m broke. But when I took a closer look, I realized at that moment that I was seeing my sister. My Trans sister. One of the Gurlz. A T-Slur as the same men who chase after us like to call us.

She also didn’t know I was Trans, and when we started talking she told me she thought I was the “real fish,” a term trans women use to refer to cisgender women. I instantly felt a connection with her. I told her she looked beautiful and that I would be right back with some cash and a sandwich. When I returned she was so happy to see me. I asked her if I could take her picture with my phone, because I did not want to forget her.

I would come back every couple of days to visit ReVon, or she would come to my house. We hung out, shared food, and she introduced me to the other girls who live and do sex work on the “Hoe Stroll” off of Piedmont Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia.