About a dozen people waited today to enter a 32-foot RV parked in Charlotte that aims to support the LGBTQ+ and underserved communities in upholding their identities, through official documentation.
Community members gathered outside the RV with a pride flag. They received advice from a lawyer on how to change their names and what to do about gender markers. Aster Newnam, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, was among them.
“I'm named after my grandmother and my great-grandmother, and I love them very much, but it no longer feels like it suits me,” Newnam said.
Angela Giampolo is behind the initiative. She started it in 2016 in response to Trump’s first election, after members of the LGBTQ+ community reached out with concerns about their rights. She said the goal of the caravan is to help them navigate the challenges they’re facing.
"The, you know, pain and unnecessary strife that this administration is putting LGBTQ folks through for absolutely no reason,” Giampolo said.
Last year, Trump issued an executive order that defines gender strictly as male or female based on biological sex at birth. A North Carolina law passed last year does so as well. The Caravan of Hope plans to visit 17 cities in 31 days.
