Lauren

Samsoun

To me, a big part of pride is about finding community and establishing a shared and/or connected consciousness in some way. That is to be able to say, "I am not alone." The internet and social media has played an important role in what that looks like for me as a trans person. These platforms have allowed me to transcend my individual experience towards new understandings of what is possible for trans people - our joys, our struggles, our fierce history of fighting for change, our everyday moments. These platforms have also served as a foil against which I have been able to retreat back into myself and do the (never-ending) work of figuring out who I am, where I stand, and how I want to contribute to queer and trans liberation. In this way, these platforms have also been a space of transformation, not just a space of consumption. Or perhaps a better way to put it is that through my consumption I have been transformed. To honor the trans people who have existed, for me, in this online realm and who have helped me uncover a particular insight or sense of meaning, I have taken to visually depicting them. "Lauren" is one of those people.