Real Mississippi Stories
Before the full documentary premieres this October, hear from some of the people whose voices and experiences shape the Trans Storytelling Project.
These stories touch on self-expression, family, allyship, advocacy, political power, and the importance of creating communities where everyone can live with dignity.
Be Authentically You
Meet Myla
Myla loves photography, dance, pink, teal, and the freedom she feels when she gets to express herself. For her, dance creates a sense of freedom and joy. Her message to others is simple: embrace who you are.
“Be authentically you. That’s the most powerful thing you can be.”
Mississippi Hospitality
Meet Ande
For Ande, allyship is connected to something deeply familiar in Mississippi: hospitality.
Treating people with kindness, respect, and care is something many Mississippians are raised to value. Ande believes those same values can help people recognize the role they can play in supporting LGBTQ+ friends, family members, neighbors, and community members.
“For me, hospitality is kindness. Love. Showing someone they matter no matter what.”
Love, Family, and Community
Meet Love Latonia
For Love Latonia, allyship starts with something simple but powerful: seeing people for who they are.
Leading with love means paying attention, showing up consistently, and making sure LGBTQ+ people know that who they are matters.
It is not enough to call yourself an ally. Allyship is something you practice through the way you listen, support, and stand beside your community.
“Great allies show people that who they are matters.”
Showing Up for Each Other
Meet Erica & Rick
For Erica and Rick, allyship is also deeply personal. As parents, they speak about the responsibility to protect, mentor, support, and show up for the people they love.
Being an ally means more than quietly offering support. It means speaking up when someone is being targeted or treated unfairly and choosing to be a better parent, mentor, neighbor, and example.
Their story reminds us that families and allies have an important role to play in building communities where trans people are supported and treated with dignity.
“Each of us wants to be a better ally, a better parent, a better example.”
Knowing Your Rights
Meet McKenna Raney
McKenna Raney is the LGBTQ Justice Project Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Mississippi, where she focuses on legal issues, advocacy, and outreach affecting LGBTQ+ Mississippians.
For McKenna, knowing your rights is about more than understanding the details of the law. It can help people recognize when they are being treated unfairly, advocate for themselves in the moment, and imagine how policies or institutions could change for the better.
That might mean challenging an unfair school policy, starting a GSA, getting involved in local government, or finding another way to make your voice heard.
Knowing what the law currently protects can also raise an important question: What should come next?
“If you learn about your rights and you’re like, ‘That’s it? That’s all I’ve got?’ Maybe there’s something that you can do about that.”
Who Gets Heard?
Meet Sarah
Trans people make up a small portion of Mississippi’s population, yet their lives and rights have increasingly become subjects of political debate.
Too often, decisions affecting trans people are made without listening to the people who will experience those policies firsthand.
Sarah asks what those political priorities say about who gets heard, whose concerns receive attention, and how trans people become part of debates that extend far beyond their everyday lives.
“There’s a disconnect between Mississippians in the community and the people that are making laws.”
There Is No Single Trans Story
The experiences of trans Mississippians are as varied as Mississippi itself.
These stories include joy and frustration.
Family and friendship.
Self-expression and advocacy.
Everyday life and questions about power.
No single person can represent every trans experience.
The Trans Storytelling Project creates room for people to tell their own stories in their own words and allows those stories to exist beyond headlines, stereotypes, and political debates.
Learn More. Know Your Rights.
The stories in this project are part of a larger conversation about LGBTQ+ life, rights, and advocacy in Mississippi.
Whether you are looking for information about your rights, resources for yourself or someone you care about, or more context about the issues affecting LGBTQ+ Mississippians, explore these resources from the ACLU of Mississippi.
LGBTQ Justice Project
The ACLU of Mississippi’s LGBTQ Justice Project provides legal resources, Know Your Rights information, guides, and support for LGBTQ+ Mississippians.
Find information about LGBTQ+ student rights, name and gender marker changes, voting while trans, legal resources, and more.
Y’all Means All
Learn more about LGBTQ+ rights in Mississippi, the policies affecting LGBTQ+ communities, and the work to build a state where everyone can live openly and authentically.
Project Partners & Contributors
The Trans Storytelling Project was made possible with support, participation, and collaboration from organizations and individuals working to strengthen LGBTQ+ communities in Mississippi and beyond.
TRANS Program
Awakening Love
Jxnology
National Advocates for Trans Equality
The Law Firm - Bufete Legal, LLC
Campaign Productions
Campaign Productions served as the production company for the Trans Storytelling Project.
Stay Tuned for the Full Story
The Trans Storytelling Project
Premiering October 2026
The full documentary brings these voices and experiences together to explore what it means to live, belong, advocate, and build community in Mississippi.
Check back for the official premiere date, documentary trailer, additional stories, and information about how to watch.
