The story of Meridian’s LGBTQ community wasn't written in laws or grand protests alone. It was stitched into the quiet moments: the first time a teenager tried on a binder in a locked bathroom stall, the hesitant tap of a cane from an elder lesbian who’d survived the AIDS crisis, the nervous laughter at a drag bingo night.

The modern LGBTQ movement was forged in the crucible of shared struggle. Transgender people, particularly trans women of color, were instrumental in early resistance movements like the and the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot .

“They always stall,” Leo muttered. “Until someone dies.”

It read: Shelter is not a luxury. Existence is not an argument. Protect trans lives.