Ep. 9 - Getting kicked out of the Texas Capitol and making Barbie clothes with Sofia Sepulveda
#9: This episode’s guest is Sofia Sepulveda! Sofia (she/her) is the Community Engagement and Advocacy Manager at Equality Texas and a first-generation Mexican American trans woman. She has been organizing in San Antonio for the past nine years for health care and environmental justice.
Sofia is the lead organizer for the Healthcare for All March in San Antonio, the co-founder of Trans Power San Antonio, as well as the organizer for the Women's March in San Antonio for the last four years. Sofia was recognized as one of the 25 Influential Women who run San Antonio in 2019 for her work in healthcare. She also sits on the boards of Healthcare-NOW, Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), and Unfiltered Wings, and is on the community advisory board for CentroMed in San Antonio.
You can find Sofia on Instagram at @sofia_in_texas and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/sofiaintexas
Links/resources in the episode:
Equality Texas
Trans Power San Antonio
Healthcare-NOW
Transgender Education Network of Texas
Unfiltered Wings
CentroMed
Southwest Workers Union
Everyday Trans Activism is a production of Parents of Trans Youth, a social impact business providing learning, support, and community to parents and caregivers of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse kids.
Host Mandy Giles (she/her) is the Texas parent of two transgender young adults and a fierce advocate for trans kids, their families, and the transgender community.
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FULL TRANSCRIPT
Mandy: Hey y'all and welcome to Everyday Trans Activism. I am your host, Mandy Giles, my pronouns are she/her, and I am the parent of two transgender young adults, and I'm also the founder of Parents of Trans Youth.
Today's guest is Sofia Sepulveda. Sofia is the Community Engagement and Advocacy Manager at Equality Texas and a first-generation Mexican American trans woman. She has been organizing in San Antonio for the past nine years for health care and environmental justice and has done some absolutely incredible things.
She's the lead organizer for the Healthcare for All March in San Antonio, the co-founder of Trans Power San Antonio, as well as the organizer for the Women's March in San Antonio for the last four years. Sofia was recognized as one of the 25 Influential Women who run San Antonio in 2019 for her work in healthcare.
That's amazing. I didn't realize that you ran San Antonio. That's so cool. She also sits on the boards of Healthcare Now, Transgender Education Network of Texas, and Unfiltered Wings, and is on the community advisory board for CentraMed in San Antonio. Sofia, welcome. I am so glad you are here today.
Sofia: I am excited to be here. Thank you, Mandy.
Mandy: Yes. Well, I know, obviously I introduced you, but please go ahead and fill in the gaps of my introduction in any way you want to.
Sofia: Pretty much. You got it right. Like I started organizing around 10 years ago. First, um, I was very involved in the presidential campaigns, right? Like they're knocking on doors and making the phone calls.
Eventually I met this group, an amazing group called Southwest Workers Union here in San Antonio. They do a lot of work in environmental and indigenous work. So, um, they were running, running a campaign on, on environmental justice. And so I started to dive in on that in 2014, actually I got really sick with what was, um, I didn't know what it was at the time.
I started getting like a bump in the back on the side of my neck and I have like,
Mandy: Oh yeah, you've got a scar there.
Sofia: A vampire that bit me right there, but it was actually a drug-resistant staph infection. I did not know because I don't have insurance. And every time that I went to the hospital, I was turned down because I didn't have insurance that would give me medication to get me better or to manage my fever.
And my doctor at the time that, cause I was going to a low-income clinic, which I still go now that I still have insurance. He's been my doctor for like 17 years now. He's like, you might have cancer, Sofia. So you need to go to the hospital. And they kept on turning me down. And I mean, the hospital's job is not to cure you, it's to stabilize you, and then they can kick you out.
So I, I would show up there with a fever, they would give me ibuprofen. They would give me a bill of $1,600 and I would have to come back every other day. So finally I had to go into this program that is like an indigent healthcare program, right? Which is low-income healthcare.
But I was making $1,000 too much to qualify. So it was like, I don't know what to do. That was before, like the Affordable Care Act was going to start in October. So this was in the middle of July. I couldn't get insurance. So I finally literally had to beg the indigent health system to let me in.
And they told me, yes, as long as I pay 80 percent of my costs. They only covered 20. I'm still paying that bill. This was in 2014. Just so you know.
Mandy: Oh my gosh.
Sofia: So I went to the hospital. Turned out that it was not cancer. Thank goodness. It was a drug-resistant staph infection. And here it is, this amazing-looking doctor trying to see me. And I'm here with a bump and I'm like, why do I get to meet you while I'm in this condition? Okay. We could have been something. No.
Mandy: Always looking. There you go.
Sofia: But at the end of the day, I realized because he was very shameful, right? Like I didn't have insurance when I was working. It was really, really shameful.
But I realized that I wasn't the only one, right? Because when I went back to work, and I started asking questions to the folks who were working over time they were telling me I don't have access to insurance. My kid is sick, and my insurance doesn't cover it. cover my, my kid, because if I put my kid on, it's going to be much more expensive or, so it was just all these horror stories.
And, and therefore I'm like, we need to do something about the horrendous health care system that we have in and not just in Texas, but all across the United States, right?
So fast forwarding now with the attacks on trans kids and having all these mythological ideas that they are accessing all these types of surgeries when at the end of the day Texas is the number one state with the highest number of uninsured people. It just makes you realize that how dumb these people are by telling you that they're accessing surgeries when at the end of the day, we don't even have the money, the funds, or the health care to access something as simple as a drug-resistant staph infection that said if I would have waited It would have become septic. I would have died.
Mandy: Oh gosh.
Sofia: So it's like, if I cannot even access that, how am I going to access a surgery?
Mandy: Yeah. Yeah. And it makes you think of the time too of, oh, why are the legislators spending so much time on an effort and vitriol and hate and bleh on restricting healthcare for- very important health care -for this relatively small population where there's so much more that they could put just as much effort into making sure everybody has that kind of health care, any kind of health care, um, and do so much better. Yeah. Oh, gosh.
Sofia: Yeah. So that’s how it all started. I mean, I started knocking on doors more so on issue-based rather than politics. Right. And, uh, there was a lot of hunger. It's still a lot of hunger in our community to really organize folks because they still lack access to healthcare. They still lack access to a good-paying job. They lack access to a good housing. Right. So, it's bringing the community that I realized that that's where my energy should be put in, not just in political elections, but it was more issue-based. So I've been organizing now for like 10 years. it's, it has been a wild ride.
11 years ago, I was this girl who was working at a call center, trying to survive, struggling, and now I'm here, right? And it's just, looking back, it's wow, it's just wow, wow.
Mandy: Well that, that is what I think of when I think of you: is just wow. So, I'm glad to know how you got started on all this. And it sounds like it started with a very personal reason for organizing and taking action.
And I think that probably is the case for a lot of people. Would that be any kind of advice for people who want to start getting involved in advocacy or activism to start with the personal or what advice would you give?
Sofia: I feel a lot of times, especially when it comes to like leadership, I think it does come very personal.
I mean, like you, you got engaged because it hits you personally with your kids, right? In organizing, we always say it's altruism at the end of the day that's going to get you there, right? But it's self-interest that is going to get your feet into organizing, right?
Because at the end of the day, I would not organize in healthcare if I myself would not have the troubles that I had accessing healthcare. I think I still probably would have been working on a call center doing almost nothing until the trans attacks began, right? Because then it affected me also directly, but since something else affected me, it prompted me to do something.
And it, to me, it was kind of like, uh, fairly easy because my mom used to sell Avon back in the day when I was younger, and she used to take me with her, right? And I got to see her knocking on doors, trying to sell products and, and having these conversations with folks, which it made it very easy for me now, like going into a community and knocking on a door, and in a way we're not, we're selling something, we're selling hope, we're saying a new tomorrow, rather than a lipstick, or a new shade of eyeshadow, right? Like we are selling the hope that these folks are hungry for.
Mandy: Oh, that makes so much sense. And really, yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Like it really is kind of like sales or in the way that you're trying to get people to either change their mind or make a decision. Also kind of the way that like fundraising kind of fits in, in that bucket as well, that trying to, to get people to do what you what you want 'em to do. Do this. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Whether that's like a vote a certain way or, or be informed on issues or, anything like that.
Sofia: Or showing up at the Capitol.
Mandy: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Oh, that was a good segue. Okay, the Texas Capitol. Okay. So you are a little famous because of your - for a lot of things.
Sofia is an amazing public speaker and usually you will see her with a megaphone and like running around and doing wonderful things. And there was one particular day at the Capitol that I don't even know how to describe it. You, I was going to say you got in trouble, but you didn't, you, somebody thought you got in trouble, you were targeted.
So, can you tell us a little bit about that day and maybe what that was like for you?
Sofia: I mean, I think for context for a lot of people, right? Like we've been going through these legislative sessions, like we haven't gone in any other legislative session aside of the little fight that we had to do from like the access to, public facilities, to, I think that's the only one so far that I can that was that big.
Mandy: Yeah, that was, that was that big.
Sofia: Right. But this was just insane 'cause there were literally 141 bills against our community, so we were running everywhere. And there were a few folks who were very outspoken during the legislative session and inside the capitol, I was one of them. So, comes May the second when it was the second hearing, I believe in the Senate of SB 14, and we decided to do a, which was …
Mandy: Wait for those who don't know, what is SB 14?
Sofia: SB 14 is the gender-affirming care ban for children. Right? Before that, I led the die-in for the HB 1686, which was the sister bill on the House of Representatives for a gender-affirming care ban, which they cut testimony at midnight.
And I mean, everybody was upset. Yeah, but it was really pissed actually. That's the right word. And I just, we were really mad. And, and we staged a die-in. After the die-in, we chanted all the way out of the, yeah, I'm,
Mandy: I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about that. It was, it was terrifying and beautiful at the same time.
Sofia: We were just literally on the floor until they told us like, you need to go because we're going to close the Capitol.
Mandy: I would say the poor guards, they kind of were like, please, they were nice, kind of, that day. And they were like, Please go home. We're tired.
Sofia: Exactly. So I like, but as we were walking out, I was one of the ones who was at the forefront, chanting, chanting really loudly.
Right. And, comes May the second, cause I never going to forget the day, May the second, it was the day of SB 14. And, the day started really nice, actually. There was a lot of clergy folks showing up. They did amazing chantings right outside of the gallery, to bring hope to the trans community, to ensure that the legislators saw them and saw that the trans community was not alone, right?
And that was super amazing. We also were planning with everybody to have a rally at the Rotunda where we've done so many rallies before, right? At 10 a.m. So the night before we stayed up until like 2 a.m. creating this banner and it was a beautiful banner. I was so like, I'm a klutz girl ,and I'm so afraid I was gonna mess it all up.
I almost did. I almost, thankfully I didn't. I almost did. But, we were like super excited about this banner. I didn't walk in with the banner. In fact, it was a co-worker, a white co-worker, right, who walked in with the banner. She got asked the question, what are you going to do with this banner? And she said, we're going to use it as a background for a rally at the Rotunda at 10.
And they were like, as long as you don't hang it and you hold it by your hands, everything is okay.
Mandy: Oh, okay. So, cause that's where I didn't know, So you, you can't say tape it or something to the balcony, but if you hold it, it's okay.
Sofia: It's okay. If you hold it, it's okay. As long as you're not utilizing like the, um, the rails or like with tape or whatever.
Mandy: Okay. They just don't want stuff to get messed up. Probably.
Sofia: Yes. Yes. Yes. So, we were aware of this, right? So, I got a couple of folks, Meghan Fairbanks was one of them who were like, yes, I can.
Mandy: In episode 2, y'all go back and listen to episode 2. It's Meghan.
Sofia: It's really amazing. So, I asked her if she wanted to go with me to the second floor to drop the banner before the rally.
And she's like, yeah. So we got other two, uh, three other folks. All of them white folks. And there were, they were also trans folks. So like, I want all of them to be part of this. Right. So we, we went upstairs. We got the call that the rally was going to start. We dropped the banner and not even two minutes.
Mandy: Hold it. What did it, what did it say? Cause I, this is
Sofia: It said, Let trans kids grow up. It said nothing else.
Mandy: Uh, it was. It was beautiful. I actually, I would, unfortunately I was not there in the morning, but I did get to see pictures and video of it later. And for those who don't know, it was unusually large.
I have never seen it - like it was, it almost reached the floor, I think. Like from the second-floor balcony down to the floor. And this is like not a normal second floor of a building. It's huge. But anyway, so this was like a giant statement and it was gorgeous and wonderful, and …
Sofia: And if you went to that, to the gala from Equality Texas, he was hanging right there. It was like a wedding dress. That's how long it was.
And, so we did that right. And within like two minutes, this guard comes up to me, um, comes up to us first. He reached out to Meghan first because Meghan was on the corner and asked who is, who does this banner belong to? And Meghan, even though she's been going to testify at the DFPS meeting, she's come to the Capitol. It's literally her first year organizing. So I told them like, this is nobody else's, this is my banner. And they were like, so who is the organization? And I'm like, I'm here by myself. Oh. But they like, the thing is they asked Meghan, but they came to me right away before, so they asked me to fold the banner up and to take it away.
And I was like, okay, we're going to do that. I mean, we know how the DPS can be at the Capitol. So, we did that. And then they proceeded to tell me that they were gonna ban me from the Capitol for a year for dropping a banner. Mind you, I've been doing this job again for 10 years. I've been going to like 30 sessions year after year.
I've dropped a couple of banners before. They were not as big though. I've never had a problem. Yeah. Until now. Right. and yeah, they pulled me aside and they said like, we're going to ban you. You're not going to be able to come back until, 2024 on May. So, I want to make a party right outside.
Mandy: Yes. Oh my gosh. I will be there. I will be there.
Sofia: And so that's, that's exactly what happened. Two days later, they were trying to get me back in through, a state representative, Troy, uh, is it Troy? What is, I forgot his name right now. I can't remember because I think there was, Trey Martinez Fischer. Fischer. Got it. So he's the one who for those who don't know, he's like the, the chair of the Democratic party in the Capitol. Oh, right. And so he invited me in. So I was able to go in through him as a guest.
Mandy: Although aren't, aren't we all guests of the Capitol? I mean, really,
Sofia: Well, we shouldn't be, we should be the only
Mandy: that's true. You're right. You're right. Yeah. Let's flip that. Okay.
Sofia: So, so yes. So, they invited me and this was gonna be another hearing for SB 14. And, they didn't end up doing the hearing. They had to postpone it for another day. But as I'm walking in, because everybody at DPS knew that there was gonna be a hearing.
They put my picture, oh, in the front doors. Like if I was there with a bomb or something, if you see this criminal, stop her and I'm like, Oh, like to the point they sent me a picture and it was like, what? Yeah, another one better. But I walked in with the chief of staff of representative Martinez Fischer and we were stopped by the cops, and literally we were surrounded by the cops.
And one of them was like. Are you Frances? Are you Frances? Frances is my first name. Sofia is my middle name. Right. So my name, my actual name is Frances Sofia. And I was like, no, I'm Sofia. I, I didn't lie. They kept on looking at the picture and looking at me, and they're looking at the picture and looking at me and mind you, when I went to take my, my DMV picture, I was sick, so I don't look that great.
Mandy: Well, who does look good?
Sofia: So they were looking at me, and they were looking at the picture, and they were like, ma'am, let me see your hands.
They were trying to arrest me right next to the chief of staff. And so what I did is like, I am not showing you my hands. I just went like that, and they, they started getting madder cause I didn't comply. I'm not gonna comply to you. Like you're not going to intimidate me. You're like, I am tired of y'all trying to intimidate me.
I've been, uh, like I've been brutalized by the police before. I've been arrested before. I am not, I'm not scared of you. I am not scared of you. The chief of staff calls Representative Martinez Fischer. He shows up and he's upset. He's upset. Tell me what's happening? What are you doing this to my chief of staff demanding them to apologize not only to the chief of staff, but to me, right?
And they refuse. So we went to the office because as a guest, I was not allowed to go anywhere else, but used to sit in his office and anywhere in the Capitol, I need a chaperone from his office so I wouldn't get arrested.
Mandy: Like a child or something. Oh my gosh.
Sofia: When I had to go to the bathroom, it's like, can somebody come with me?
Mandy: I need a bathroom buddy!
Sofia: Thank you. So that's, that happened. And eventually they showed up. And, they were looking for him. They went and apologized to the chief of staff and then they come to me and they're like, ma'am, we want to apologize for you and to you. And I was like, apology, not accepted. And then I just, and then I just went off.
The problem, the most problem that I had, it was the chief of the DPS was a black man. His like left hand or right hand, whatever we call them, his honcho was, was a Latino guy. Right. And so I, what I told them is how ashamed they should be of themselves for being an extension of white supremacy because DPS what was doing was literally doing the bidding of the white man who didn't want not just trans people, but they don't want black folks.
I mean, they got rid of DEI, right. They got rid of CRT. So look at what they're doing right now with the immigrants right now. Look at what they're doing with the show me your papers. So it's like you are enforcing white supremacist laws. As a people of color, and you should, because of that, you should be ashamed.
You should be ashamed of yourselves, right? And I told the Latino in Spanish, what would your parents say? What would your parents say when they see you enforcing these things? And he looks at me, he's like, my parents were immigrants, too. And I'm like, that's even worse, dude. Like, what are you doing?
What are you doing? He's like I am doing my job. I'm like, the Nazis said the same thing. They were just doing their job while they were killing people. So by doing your job, it's either you are part of the oppression, the oppressors, or you are the oppressed. And right now, sir, you are my oppressor, and I am not going to take your apology.
So I didn't shake their hands and they left. Like I just went off on them.
Mandy: I mean, after that and so many other incidents with all sorts of things and violence and, um, yeah. So I'm not surprised that you did. I'm glad you did. Oh gosh,
Sofia: That was an event.
Mandy: Yeah, that was an event. Yeah. So, okay. So May 2nd, we're going to have a party. Do we bring favors for DPS? No, we're not going to do that.
Sofia: Maybe some eggs.
Mandy: Oh, yeah. Okay. Okay. That'll be good. I'll bring the eggs. I'll bring the eggs. I'll make sure. Uh, well, this makes me think of something that I saw on your Instagram this morning about disruption.
And it was that a certain political candidate was coming to town. Well, we could say, I guess, it's coming to town. And so I think you said, like, all right, who's with me? Who wants to come and disrupt? So I want to hear your thoughts about disruption and, what that means to you and how that can be used as a tool for change, for activism. How do you use that? Cause you, I, I know such a small sliver of your life and what you've done. And I have a feeling you have disrupted in the past as well. You are a disruptor.
Sofia: My disruption, I guess it varies, and it depends on how and who I'm disrupting, right? Like, to me, Democratic candidates are more likely to switch and eventually side with you and do what you ask them to do, right?
And it all starts from the bottom up, like, and by the bottom, it's like having meetings with their staff or themselves, having conversations. If I meet with you and three times you tell me no in the action that I'm asking you to do, then I'm gonna do an action, right, and what we call escalation. An escalation could be either calling them out on social media, writing an op-ed, whatever that calls the attention and you go back to visit and have the conversation. They also tell you know, then you escalate those actions, right, to the point that you just start doing what we call it bird-dogging I don't know if you're familiar with the term bird-dogging.
Mandy: Please explain.
Sofia: So bird-dogging is when you're literally following the candidate everywhere they go and then disrupt, disrupt, disrupt. Like the point is for them to never forget you and to remember why you're there to the point that they start, um, this candidate started running away from me every time that I that that he saw me, right, because he knew what I was gonna do and I mean he would we would see like town hall for army veterans.
I was fighting for Medicare for all which is what veterans get just socialized medicine. I want socialized medicine for us too because we deserve it. We don't need to go into a war to get healthcare. We shouldn't have to. And I, I went to that event and as he's speaking, we get up and we started chanting, uh, Medicare for all.
Like to the point that a lot of VAs were, we were told we were disrespectful. And I'm like, there's, there is more disrespect, having people die for not having healthcare or having people go into debt for medical debt than disrupting your town hall. So what is more disrespectful, right? And he would do a town hall, and we would do the same thing.
That we will start screaming, and they would take us out of the room, and somebody some like in the other side would just would get up and start screaming, Take them out of the room and all of a sudden everything was chaotic The town hall was over, and everybody was talking about Medicare for all, which is what we wanted, right?
So eventually, he ended up signing on to the legislation. And like literally the next time that I saw him, he runs to me and gives me a hug. How are you doing Sofia? And I'm like, yeah, three weeks ago you ran away from me, sir. What are you talking about?
Mandy: It worked. That's amazing. Okay. Okay.
Sofia: Uh, Republicans candidates are never going to agree to the way that you are trying to get them.
There might be a very minority, but people like Nikki Haley is not one. No, no, no, no. So the, the, the disrupting an event like the Nikki Haley event or any other fringe Republican is just for the simple fact of disrupting and ending their speech of hate, because most of the speeches are filled not only hate against the trans community, hate against immigrants, hate against black people, hate against people who are not just centered, but are not normalized in their point of view, right?
So the whole point is, when disrupting this thing, it's not because I want something from you, it's because I don't want to kill you, right? So, it's like, we have to make sure how we're disrupting and when we're disrupting, right? To me like disrupting Nikki Haley. What is my end goal? Just to feel good.
I'm not trying to change her mind because she's not going to change her mind, right? Disrupting a candidate that you know that has the potential to side your way, there are steps to follow before you escalation. I always tell folks that that this type of escalations that we do is kind of like a little snowball.
You drop them, and they keep on going until they get bigger and a lot of a lot of politicians don't like big snowballs.
Mandy: I bet not!
Sofia: They try to stop it. Especially when you're targeting people who more than likely will agree with you, but you start, you're like really high.
There is no going back, right? Like that person is not going to want to meet with you. That person is not going to want to have a conversation with you. So, it's going to be harder to convince them otherwise.
Mandy: Well, that makes sense. And I didn't realize how strategic, the principles of disruption are and that, yeah, because if you went in chanting at a candidate, like a Democratic candidate or whoever at their town hall, then they would not want to listen to you because yeah, yeah, I can definitely see that, that it would be hard to back down off of that. And they, there would be a lot more barriers to get to them, or they would be more defensive or just not a whole lot of common ground in there. Well, that makes sense.
Sofia: Just the same way that we did the escalations during the legislative session, right? Like first it was advocacy, going having conversations with them, try to get them to listen to us. You didn't listen to us, so we're gonna do all this escalation in order for you to listen. But we didn't start with like, Oh, we're going to do this escalation. And can you sit down with us and have a conversation?
They’ll tell you no, because it's like, I mean, you already did what you were supposed to do at the end. Why am I meeting with you right now? Yeah. So always, always be strategic as to how you're because what we're doing is literally a campaign, whether it's a political campaign or an issue-based campaign, there's going to be escalations, right?
Mandy: Yeah. Well, to make change, that just would make sense that you would have to keep that ball or snowball moving forward. You would have to do something different or something bigger or something escalating. I wonder if, like I'm thinking about the die in that was for HB 1686, would there be cases, like, was this maybe one of them where the other side that was not going to listen to you maybe did something so egregious that it needed to be met with something equally as large, like the fact that they literally silenced the voices of people who were coming to speak against this bill.
So was that why that was such a big demonstration? Like, okay, you're going to shut us up? Now you're going to hear us, or tell me how that came about.
Sofia: We, uh, cause it's not only us just working on the, on the, on the forefront, right? There's people working on the background, having conversations with these legislators and trying to make them understand why they should desist on this legislation, why they should drop this legislation, why they should help us not move this legislation forward, but then our, our, our time to speak is during testimony.
But if you're not going to let me speak, what is my option? What option are you giving me, right? Other than do either a big rally or a die-in, right? Because at the end of the day, what you're doing is killing children. I mean, I was just reading this report today that says 53 trans people died last year of violence, right?
33 people died of self-harm because of the exploitation that we've seen. So, they are literally killing people. They are literally killing people. And if you're not going to give me the chance to voice my concerns, you're going to hear me one way or another. You're going to hear me.
Mandy: So, yeah, I can definitely see why larger actions would be needed. Last year's, legislative session was just particularly brutal and egregious and needed all of those very large actions. Yeah, definitely. The whole time these tactics that were silencing people and, and, um, you know, calling things at the last minute, or changing schedules and blah, blah, blah.
Anyway, so, I'm glad that there were organizers like you to do something like the die-in or that giant, giant rally. I can't remember if it had a name, but the one that like all, how many four levels of the Capitol. Mars and I were on the very top, like on the ground level for those who don't know the Texas Capitol, part of it is like many floors of it actually are underground.
It's like being in a dungeon. And it feels like being in a dungeon a lot of time. But like the top level is actually the ground level. And so Mars and I were up there and just looking down and looking at the thousands and thousands of people. I have goosebumps right now and that the joy and the yelling and the community and just the emotion, it was, it was wonderful.
And I know you were right there in the middle, right there. And every time you speak, I start crying, because you're just amazing. So of course, I'm sure I cried that day.
Sofia: No, it was the rally for HB 1686 because we were going to be hearing that, uh, we were going to be hearing the bill, right? So, we asked people to show up in thousands and thousands of people showed up, but we, we called it a rally for healthcare.
Mandy: Oh, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Was it, it was that day even, I think it was the same day.
Sofia: We did the rally and then we did the, the die in. Yes. Yes. It was the same day.
Mandy That's right. That's right. Because then all those people who showed up for the rally also dropped cards. And so there were thousands and thousands of them.
Sofia: There were over 4,000 cards dropped against the bill and only 90 cards dropped in favor.
The worst part of this whole day was that they flew in people not from Texas to give their testimony. How do you have a chiropractor talking about gender-affirming care for two hours? It was all done purposefully.
Mandy: That's right. Oh, to just eat up that clock and …
Sofia: I mean, you have the opposition, but it's not even from Texas. Come to speak on a bill that is going to affect hundreds of thousands of Texans but you, yeah, you don't give the opportunity to Texans to speak up about this bill that is going to be affecting their lives. So that's selfish, right? Like that's, it's not selfish. It's extremely and I don't want to say targeted. It's discriminatory.
Mandy: Oh, definitely. Definitely. That, that's almost a, a too soft of a word. I think discriminatory, it was very targeted. And so many of the things that they did that session, um, and then we're, and then we're seeing all over the country.
Sofia: And I mean, people were there since like seven o'clock in the morning until like midnight waiting to testify. Yeah. Like this.
Mandy: I was one of them.
Sofia: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's insane. It's insane. I mean, we, we did what we could to accommodate folks. We brought food. We tried to entertain folks. And I mean, I wasn't trying to entertain, cause I was trying to like run around and see like what's going on. I probably lost 20 pounds just that day.
Mandy: There was a lot going on that day for sure. Now I know I'm trying to think if it was that day or the next day, but I know there were times when, when Mars and I were there and Equality Texas and TENT and other organizations were really taking care of the advocates. Like Mars and I had our portraits drawn and, I think Mars maybe had their nails done and, and like we were making, um, beaded
Sofia: That was after I got kicked out. Cause I wasn't not part of any of that. Yeah.
Mandy: Oh, you didn't get that done.
Sofia: I didn't get my portrait.
Mandy: Oh no. And I think there was karaoke somewhere. We missed that. I don't know if it was the same day, but I learn more every day about how important it is to take care of myself and, and, and treat what I do at any kind of action kind of stuff as a marathon and not a sprint. So I don't burn out. And I know that a lot of people feel similarly.
And I wonder how you take care of yourself because you know, your, your activism is baked in your, your DNA, it's who you are and like, how do you take time off? Do you, do you have any hobbies that maybe? Okay, we're, I'm laughing, we're laughing because Sofia told me about a really fun hobby before we got on the interview.
Sofia: What is keeping my mind away from things that the little time down that I have is sewing clothes for dolls. I went and watched, I went and watched the Barbie movie. And I mean, growing up trans in a house that I, that wasn't very supportive at all. Right. It was me hiding myself, uh, playing with my sister's Barbies up until my mom will find me, and I will get up either a beating or hide the dolls from me.
And there was this, this neighbors they had a kid who was around my age, and she had hundreds of Barbies and her mom was super amazing. Uh, God rest her soul. She's the one who affirmed me when I was little, literally, because I would go to her house, and I would play Barbies with Erica. That was her name, with Erica and, and her sister, Patty, which was my sister's best friend.
And this is how amazing her mom was. Every time that she would see my mom coming to her house, she would say, Sofia, she's coming, go the other way. So my mom would not find me there and try to punish me for playing with the Barbies.
So seeing the Barbie movie, and I don't know if you've seen it. And at the end, all of the little girls playing with the Barbies is just very sentimental for me because I never got that. And I remember getting out of the, of the movie. And I told my, I remember watching, you're making me cry too. I remember looking at my boyfriend and said, You know what? I have my job and I have my own place and I can buy me my own freaking Barbie. Yay! So that Barbie turned into like 30 Barbies.
Mandy: Do you? You have 30 Barbies? I love it! Oh my gosh! Okay, which Barbies do you have?
Sofia: I have, of course, I bought the Margot Robbie Barbie. I have most of them are made to move. I even bought some made to move body so I can look at their faces and I can pose them and change their bodies and make them more beautiful. Yeah. I have a lot of Latina Barbies cause I mean, representation.
Mandy: Well, yeah, there you go.
Sofia: So and in my head, they all have a name and a story, but their clothes are super expensive. And I decided that I needed to learn how to sew. And my boyfriend, as amazing as he is, he's like, you know what? I, I buy you the sewing machine on your birthday.
And so he did. And here I am thinking that I'm going to whip out this amazing dress. And everything just like went awry. And I'm like, so I have to practice and learn how to do this.
Mandy: Oh, how fun. Oh my gosh, that must be really hard.
Sofia: I'm, I'm getting good. I'm getting good at it.
Mandy: I need to come and see these Barbie clothes.
Sofia: Yes, you have to.
Mandy: Oh my gosh, that's so fun.
Sofia: You know, and I also like talking about what you were saying, like this is not, this is a marathon, not a sprint. To a lot of the young folks. Do not get disappointed if you don't get the results that you want right now, right? Everything takes time, change takes, unfortunately, that is the way that it is.
Change takes time. The civil rights movement didn't start one year and the next year it was signed. It was years of organizing. It was years of mobilizing. It was years of agitating. And it was a lot of violence before we have, it ended up to where we need it to be. We need to be conscious of what we're stepping into when we organize things.
Because it's going to be a long road, it's going to be a heavy road, it's going to be a lot of time, and it's going to, it might be a lot of violence before we get to true liberation.
Mandy: That's heavy. So are you thinking, is it kind of like it's going to get worse before it gets better?
Sofia: It seems that way, right? Look at Florida. Look at Florida, like, restricting driver's license against trans people. Look at Ohio, what they're doing. So, it might seem that it's gonna get worse. But to me, that's the pivot. The moment in which we start creating the change, right? That's the catalyst.
Mandy: Well, that's a good, hopeful way of thinking about that even though you may not see the change from whatever action you're taking. No, it still matters that no matter how small, because you're probably not going to see change in a month or a year or maybe even five years, but it will happen.
I kind of like think of it as the monarch butterflies that, they are in different generations and the first generation will never see where the final generation goes, but they're part of the journey. And so that is a little bit more hopeful to think of it in that way.
So when you do have those, the catalyst of, of these awful bills and they're escalating and getting worse and worse, that will give me hope to think, okay. Maybe this means the change is coming because I'm sure everything that we're seeing right now around the country is going to come to Texas next year. So buckle up buttercup.
Sofia: But think about it, right? During Jim Crow, things weren't great. They got worse before they, they were even able to sign the Civil Rights Act. Yeah. The gay Liberation Movement, it started with police, uh, brutalizing our communities. Right? That's why they decided to, to do something about it.
But it's always going to get worse before we decide to take action. Because once, uh, if things are not bad, people are going to continue to be comfortable with the way that things are going, right? Yeah. So things. Things need to happen to make people understand that action needs to be taken.
Mandy: And that takes us back to the disruption to the getting people's attention. And so I can see how not only would that get the attention of whoever's mind you're, you're trying to change or change the action or like a politician say, but the public as well, and get on the media. And I'm sure that's probably part of some of the strategy and depending on whatever the action is to be able to say, like, I know the die-in, I saw that everywhere, on different social media and whatever. And so people say, look, what's going on in Texas.
So, yeah, so I am so glad that you are a disruptor, and I will follow your disruption and yay. And it's just amazing to see what you do and, you are making change, and it's really an honor to know you and a privilege to watch you make all that change and be inspired by it.
Which is kind of the point of why, yeah, I'm doing this. So, okay. So thank you for your time. I don't want to take up too much more of your time. Where can people find you if you want them to find you? Where do you want to point them? What's going on?
Sofia: I love your program and the fact that you promote DeleteMe. I am very open. My accounts are not private, so everybody is able to find me at Sofia with an F. @sofia_in_texas I'm very much on Instagram. I used to be very much into Facebook until I realized that like the younger the generation don't like Facebook and the younger generation is the one that we need to create the change, right?
So I just tried going into where they are. So I, my old person is like, okay, get into Instagram.
Mandy: I know, I know. I mean, when the first grandpa got on Facebook, it was all over. I mean, you know, that just, we need.
Sofia: I still miss Myspace just so you know. But yeah, you can find me on Instagram. I'm very active. I'm very open. I'm very vocal. Most of the time I repost videos. When something really bothers me then I post a video of my own and you probably will. So that's the only place you can also find me on Facebook at SofiainTexas, just like on Instagram without the underscore.
And that's pretty much where I am.
Mandy: So listener, if you want to show appreciation and gratitude for Sofia and her incredible work all over Texas, then please make a donation to Equality Texas where Sofia works. I also love Equality Texas. I would not be where I am today, wherever that is, without Equality Texas with the training and the incredible organizing that they do. So please donate to them, and put it in Sofia's honor. That would be amazing.
Sofia: So you have something to plug in for March the 2nd?
Mandy: Yes. Oh, yes, yes, yes. This episode may be published after that but go ahead and say it just in case.
Sofia: If you are in or around San Marcos, Texas, which I'm going to be, Mandy is going to be at the Pride event, speaking to folks.
And we already have somebody there to promote Equality Texas, but we also like to promote your voice. Your voice as a parent of a trans child is super important. Every time I see you, it's like, my mother should have been like you. She should have had a conversation with you. And you probably would have been able to change her mind. You probably would have because you're so amazing. So yes.
Mandy: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Well, and really to, I was going to say about your neighbor and the importance of having a supportive person in a trans youth's life, any youth, but trans youth in particular. And maybe it's not the mom or the dad or immediate family, but maybe it's the neighbor and maybe, you know, listener, maybe you could be that neighbor for the kid who wants to come over and play Barbies or trucks or whatever, or dress up or whatever it is, or just be themselves.
Yes. And so I could hear in your voice how important that was to you. And so that's, that's what it’s all about. Yeah.
Sofia: It saved my life.
Mandy: Oh my gosh. Okay. Now I'm going to go cry. So, thank you. Thank you again for talking with me. I appreciate all your time, and I just always love talking to you.
Sofia: Thank you, Mandy. Thank you for inviting me. I love you. Listen to this woman, listen to this podcast, share it, make sure that people are paying attention. We need allies. We need you.
Mandy: Thank you. I'll talk to you soon.
Sofia: Talk to you soon. Bye.