Fairfield Protest For Black LGBTQ Community Closes Downtown Road

FAIRFIELD, CT — Protesters took to the street Thursday in Fairfield as part of an effort to shed light on the challenges faced by the Black LGBTQ community.

A group of about 50 demonstrators gathered on Sherman Green before marching to Old Town Hall, stopping traffic on Old Post Road while shouting, “Black trans lives matter,” and other chants.

“Nobody really pays attention to the Black LGBT community,” said Shoshana Mahon, who helped organize the event to spread information and awareness about how to create a safe space for Black LGBTQ people.

Mahon, 17, is a Bridgeport resident and recent graduate of Fairchild Wheeler who operates a social media account called yvngblackvoices on Instagram and Facebook. She decided to hold the protest in Fairfield after she witnessed overwhelming support for the Black Lives Matter movement while attending a demonstration in town following the May death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

"We deserve to live normal lives like anyone else. We deserve to feel safe," Mahon said to the crowd outside Old Town Hall. "... The hate from other Black people, it hurts the most."

Mahon discussed homophobia in Jamaica, where her family is from. She also called for schools to incorporate the stories of Black LGBTQ leaders into curricula and to teach LGBTQ-positive sex education.

Fairfield resident Fiona McElroy at the protest discussed a federal lawsuit brought in 2019 by three Connecticut high school girls and their parents seeking to prevent participation in girls' sports by transgender athletes. Siobhan Ekeh, of Milford, addressed the high rate of violence against Black transgender women. According to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, transgender women of color comprise about 4 in 5 of all anti-transgender homicides.

“Murders of Black trans women have become a literal epidemic,” Ekeh said. “… Just to be a Black queer American is a brave thing to do.”

Isaias Pedraza, a public defender at Bridgeport Superior Court, spoke about the dangers transgender women face when they are misgendered and incarcerated within the men’s prison population.

Multiple speakers encouraged their fellow protesters to vote in the upcoming election. A representative of the LGBTQ medical nonprofit Anchor Health Initiative in Stamford brought water, sunscreen and snacks for the demonstrators.

Also present were state Rep. Brian Farnen (R-District 132), Fairfield school board member and Democrat state representative candidate Jennifer Leeper, and Democrat state representative candidate Carla Volpe.